Father's Gift
by Nadie2
Summary: Jack returns from having the knowledge of the ancients downloaded into his head for the second time to discover that he fathered a son while on Endora. Laira leaves the child in Sam's care as she dies. Now Jack and Sam must find a way to do what is right for young Nate.
1. Discovery

-Thank you to my beta Bruised Reed without whom you would be forced to endure misspelled words and missing punctuation!

-I gave Nate the second most common pronunciation error among young children, the substation of "f" for "th". So if you can't figure out what he's saying you might want to switch you letters back.

-Set during "New Order Part 2" in season eight

_Sam stares at the image in the mirror transfixed. Long hair, she hasn't had that since her Plebe summer at Academy. And she's never worn a nightgown like this. The room is cold, much too cold for the nightgown, but also colder than Colorado gets unless you are up in the mountains. Why would she go into the mountains? And why didn't she bring a warmer nightgown?_

_ She leaves the room and walks through the cabin. As soon as she leaves the bedroom she knows where she is, but she can't figure out why she's here. It's not like the Colonel hasn't invited her up to the cabin plenty of times, but she's never accepted, she's not allowed to accept._

"_Hey, I thought you'd never wake up," The Colonel says smiling at her._

_ "Mom!" the little boy says running to embrace her. He's a lot older than he was the last time she remembered him, but she has no trouble recognizing him._

_ "What is going on, Sir?" she asks trying to figure out what her last memory actually is._

_ The Colonel smiles at her, "Sir? Come on Sammy, we're not going back to that now are we?"_

_ Crap, her last memory is a replicator ship. It's just another way of trying to fill the hole in her heart. Just another game of pretend. This Colonel isn't HIM anymore than Pete was when she was dating him. This is even worse, because at least Pete was himself, was real. Pete never wore his face._

_ "Fifth, this isn't…real," she says._

_ The Colonel smiles at her, "Come on, we left all that behind, remember? The Stargate wasn't conducive to family life. Why don't we head back into the cabin and have some fish for breakfast?"_

_ "Ah! See! That just proves it, there are no fish in Ja…The Colonel's lake!" she exclaims._

_ "It would have been much easier if you had just accepted this, Samantha," he says as his face transforms from Jack's to Fifth, and the little boy dissolves into thin air._

Jack walks down the hallway trying to look as casual as possible but he's worried. When Teal'c, Daniel, and he saved Carter from the replicator, Fifth she'd been strange, distant, cool, and worried. Completely unwilling to look him in the eye. Daniel and Teal'c had seemed extra protective of Carter. He was pretty sure something had happened in the two months he had been frozen in Antartica with the knowledge of the Ancients in his head, and he wanted to know what that something was.

He walks into Carter's lab and sees…a little kid coloring on her lab bench.

"Ah hi, where did you escape from?" he asked in surprise.

The kid giggles at him, "Silly, I didn't escape."

"Does Carter know you're in her lab?" Jack asks.

The kid nods without looking up.

"Where is Carter?" he presses further.

"Sam be back soon. Don't leave the room. Don't touch nofin'," the kid repeats automatically.

"That sounds like pretty tough instructions to follow for one so little. I have trouble following directions like that myself sometimes," Jack says.

"Sam tells you what to do?" the kid asks in surprise.

"Sometimes, although she's really not supposed to," Jack says leaning over the table in a conspiratorial whisper. "So how do you know Sam? Are you the nephew she talks about?"

"No, Sam's taking care of me 'til my Dad gets unfrozed. Or if my Dad don't want me she'll take care of me forever," the little boy says.

Suddenly Jack takes stock of the kid before him. Really takes in the details, and he sees himself in the eyes, Charlie in the posturing.

"Your Dad's frozen huh?" he tries to ask casually but his voice sounds forced to his own ears.

"Yeah, wif a bunch of stuff in his brain fat don't belong. Uncle Daniel says it's just as well since fere wasn't much in fere before," the kid says going back to coloring.

"Did he now?" Jack says allowing a slight laugh, "How old are you?"

"Free and a half," the boy says.

"And your mother, Laira right?" he asks. The boy looks up at him in a way the clearly shows he's right, and the boy is surprised, "What happened to her?"

The boy's face goes grave, "She died."

"Oh God," Jack says walking around the table and scooping the child close to his heart. The kid doesn't whimper, murmur, or cry. "It's ok to cry, buddy," Jack says.

"Done cryin'," the boy says.

"Ok, that's fine too," Jack says, pulling him away. "What is your name?"

"Nafavin," he says, "It means 'fafer's gift', and Mom says I'm a great gift given by my fafer."

"Your brother…Garan right?" Jack asks.

The boy nods.

"He ok? I mean somebody taking care of him?"

The boy giggles, "he's a grown-up. He's married."

"Hmm…married doesn't always mean grown up, and not all grown up people are married," Jack says.

The boy laughs. Just then Sam came around the corner. "Sorry it took me longer than I expected Nate," she stops cold when she sees Jack. The boy slams into her wrapping himself around her legs. She reaches down, and places him on her lab bench holding him to her.

"Sir…you've met Nathavin?" she stammers, and he can tell that there is another question layered in the one he asked.

"Yes, I think I've gotten to know him better than he's gotten to know me," Jack says answering the question Sam hadn't asked.

She smiles at him, "Nate, I think you should go have lunch with Uncle Danny," Sam says to the boy.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooo!" he wails, "I'm not hungry," he says pulling himself closer to her.

"Well, I guess Uncle Danny will just have to let you have ice cream them," she says.

He stops and looks at her. "Can I have ice cream wif you instead Sam?"

"No sweetie, I need to talk to…to…I need to talk for a little bit about something very important. I promise we'll do something fun after," he says.

The little boy looks suspiciously at her, "Will you be all right Sam?"

She holds him tight, "I promise I'll be alright. Nothing dangerous. You'll be with Uncle Daniel the whole time. I'll be safe."

A worry begins to gnaw at Jack when he sees his son so worried. He rolls the word son over and over in his mind. It still stings a little. The word has been associated with pain for so long that it will take awhile before the word makes him happy again, but he can already feel it is going to make him happy.

Sam puts Nate on her hip, and they walk to Daniel's office in silence. Jack touches his son's head. The short hair pricking his fingers. He longed for the physical contact all the more since his son was so desperate for it.

Sam smiles at Daniel as she enters the room, "Daniel could you and Nathavin get an ice cream cone while uh…while we talk."

Daniel looked a little scared, but he smiled at Jack.

"You're not going to cry this time right?" Sam asks the boy in her arms.

He shakes his head reassuringly. Daniel still looks dubious. Sam sighs, "How about we all go to the mess. We'll sit at different tables until we're done chatting, and then we'll join you," she says.

Daniel nods.

When they get to the mess Sam makes sure it is Daniel that hands Nate the ice cream cone to help him curry the child's favor.

When Sam and Jack sit down he tries to give her his award-winning smile to calm his nerves, but he knows it's failed before it is half formed. "So my kid's got Daniel scared," he says.

"He freaked out a little when, Daniel watched him last. He's…a bit clingy," she says not looking at Jack.

"How did Laira die?" he asks.

"She was pretty far gone when she got here," she says softly, "we think it was some kind of cancer. Nate refused to leave her bed the whole time she lived after coming through. Actually, even after she died. Teal'c finally had to physically drag him out of the bed."

"Crap," he says closing his eyes.

"Sorry, not the right way to introduce you to your son," he says softly.

"No, information I need to know," he says, "How long has he been here?"

"He arrived two days after you were gone. So…two months, and two days."

"Sam, I'll never be able to thank you for taking care of him," he says in the most serious voice she has ever heard him use.

"Jack, you don't have to take him. I'd be more than happy to continue…I mean right now he's technically my foster child, but I always planned to adopt him if you didn't want him. That's why I didn't want you to tell him you were his father until we'd talked. If you don't want to take him, I'd love to…" she says. Jack smiles; he knows what she really means. That her heart is breaking, and she isn't sure if she can give him up.

"I definitely want him. He's my son. But I've seen the way he is attached to you. I don't think it would be in Nate's best interest to just drag him away from you. I think we're going to have to work out something gradual, maybe keep a sort of joint custody thing," he says.

Sam's face instantly lights up, but she tries to keep it cautious, "Joint custody?" she asks.

"Yeah, millions of divorced couples manage," he says.

"We're not divorced sir," she says.

"Right, that should make it easier. We are friends, we actually like each other, we've never thrown anything at each other, so sharing a kid should be easy," she says.

"Never, thrown anything at each other, Sir?" she says raising an eyebrow.

"That was an isolated incident on another planet, and I still maintain I was under the influence of alien technology," he begins pointing at her.

"You were not under the influence of alien technology, you were just bored, Sir," she responds.

"I thought you would catch it," he mutters. "Ok, so we've barely thrown anything at each other, but this is going to work."

"I've never thrown anything at you, Sir," she says with a smirk on her face.

"Well, then clearly you win," he says returning her smirk. "I was thinking I could spend a little time with him today. I'm on leave for a couple of days," he begins.

"They have a habit of doing that when we come back from the dead," she says with a grin.

"Right, but I thought we could stay on base so it's not too scary for him. Then if he does have a freak out we can drop by your lab. Give you a chance to get some work done," he says.

"I don't mind him in my lab, I still get work done."

"He's been with you at work the whole time he's been here?" Jack asks.

"Well, besides the vacation days," she says.

"My kid got you to take vacation days? He must have some kind of magical powers," Jack says. Sam laughs. "Seriously though Sam, I can't thank you enough."

She nods, somehow feeling bashful with his thanks.

"How is Pete with him?" he asks.

"Pete and I broke up," Sam says softly.

"God, my kid didn't split you up did he?" he asks concerned.

"No, no," she says shaking her head, "I just came to my senses."

Jack pauses for a minute absorbing it, "I thought Nate could stay with you tonight. Then tomorrow I could get a room set up at my house, and he could stay with me tomorrow night. Hold it. Do I still have a house? I wasn't declared KIA was I?"

"No, we didn't give up on you for a second," she says looking right into his eyes, "SG-1 made sure your house was kept up."

"Thanks again," he says with a smile.

She hates to bring it up when he is being so grateful, but she has to know. "Sir, how come you never…I mean…"

"How come I didn't check on Laira?" he asks, "I never imagined I'd have a kid."

"Laira told me you guys were trying to have a baby," she says, and he is wounded by the accusation in her voice.

"One time, we tried once," he says.

"I don't know who your health teacher was, Sir, but it only takes once."

"Sarah and I tried nine years to have Charlie, and ten years after for another kid. I never thought, after just one time," he closes his eyes, "I never told Laira. I didn't want to break her heart. She wanted another baby so bad, and I wanted another baby too," he closed his eyes, "I've always wanted another kid. I wanted to believe it could happen as much as she did. But realistically…I gave up hope of having another kid a long time ago. I guess maybe…maybe I didn't want to go back and find out I wasn't having another kid. Just like how I asked Sarah to stop showing me the pregnancy tests until we got one with a different result."

"That must have been horrible, Sir," Sam says softly, "it must have made it even worse when Charlie died."

"Nothing could make a child's death worse," he says.

"No I suppose not," she says. "Sir, how do you know it wasn't just Sarah?"

"The doctors always said it was both of us," he says slowly, his words sounding heavy.

"Sir, you'd been in a sarcophagus before you were on Endora, right?" she asks.

He nods.

"Sarcophagus heal," she says.

He shakes his head, "I probably should have thought of that."

She waits awhile before she continues, "He's got a bag in my room. Spare set of clothes, snacks, toys, he's got a baseball. I told him about all kinds of things you liked."

"Thanks for talking me up, that will help," he says with a sad smile.

"Laira talked you up too," she says, "He's pretty excited to meet his dad. He treats that baseball like a stuffed animal. He carries it everywhere like a security blanket,"

"I can't believe I've had a son for more than three years, and never knew it," he says with a touch of despair in his eyes.

"What counts is from here on out," she says softly.

"Well, should we rejoin the group?" he asks.

Sam nods.

Daniel is sitting next to Nate who is chomping on an ice cream cone.

Jack sits down on the other side of him, and Nate reaches out his arm to Sam. Daniel scoots over, leaving room for Sam to slip in between Nate and himself. As soon as Sam sits down Nate reaches his arms around her. Jack reaches out to hold the hand with the ice cream far enough away to protect her uniform.

The hug done Jack looks at his son, and says, "My name is Jack."

The boy's eyes grow wide, "Was you froze?"

"I was until Daniel and Teal'c saved me," he says.

"And then Jack saved me," Sam says.

"You're not going off world again?" Nate asks suddenly panicked scooting closer to Sam.

"Not right away, no." The kid still looks panicked.

"She's safe," Jack says looking at the kid.

"You my Dad?" the boy asks.

"Yes," Jack says. The boy slides over so he is cuddled, smushed against Jack's side without it really being a hug.

"You have a cabin in Minnesota," the boy informs him.

"Yes, sometime we'll go up there," Jack says.

"Can Sam come too?" Nate says looking worried.

"I don't think that would be a good plan, Sam has a lot of work to do," Jack says being careful not to look at Sam. He's invited Sam to the cabin many times, but he always knew she wouldn't say yes. Panic covers Nate's face. "You like Sam a lot don't you?" he asks.

The boy looks scared. He's doesn't want to offend his new father. Or the woman who has been safety to him since his mother died.

"I know you like her, that's good. Shows you have taste," Jack says venturing a smile at Sam, "Sam and I were talking about sharing you. Sometimes you would live with me, and sometimes you would live with her. What do you think about that?"

He smiles up at his Dad, putting one sticky ice cream hand around his father's back.

"We thought you could hang out with me today, and then you could sleep at Sam's house tonight, how does that sound to you?"

He smiles, and leans his head against his father, "You like the Twins," he whispers trying to draw a line of connection between himself and the father he doesn't know.

"I do, and I heard you had a baseball, maybe we'll go up and play catch after you finish your ice cream," he says.

The words ice cream remind Nate of his forgotten treat, and he takes a long lick of it before he says with mouth full, "I don't know how to play."

"That's ok," Jack says, "I'll teach you."

"What if I'm no good," the boy asks.

"Well, that doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is whether or not you have fun," Jack says, "and if you don't have fun we'll just do something else. I already know you like coloring."

Nate grins at him taking another big lick of the ice cream.

"What is your favorite color?" Jack asks.

"Green," Nate says.

"No kidding? I told you this guy has great taste! My favorite color is peridot," Jack says.

"What is that?" his son asks with a little giggle.

"It's a very special, very amazing shade of green," Jack says. "What's your favorite animal?"

Nate lights up, "We don't have that many animals where I came from. Sam took me to the zoo. I LOVED the zoo."

"Nice," he says.

"But my favorite animal," Nate says grabbing his father's arm so he could interrupt him "is a dog."

"Wouldn't you know it," Jack says leaning conspiratorially toward his son, "that's my favorite animal too. Maybe you and I will have to get a dog someday."

"You got Cassie a dog once?" he asks.

"Yeah, I told her every earth kid should have a dog. You know Cassie?"

"I haven't met Cassie. But she talks to me on the phone," his voice gets softer, and he burrows further into his side, "She's an o'fan. Her first mommy and daddy died so she got another mommy and that one died too. Uncle Danny is an o'fan too, his parents died when he was little. I like it when he talks about it, but I still don't like it when Sam leaves me with him."

Jack gives Daniel a look of profound gratitude. The man doesn't talk about his parent's death with anyone. He hasn't relived that experience since the Gatekeeper forced him to. But Daniel's been relieving it for Jack's son's sake.

"Sam is a half o'fan. Her mommy died when she was little, but her Daddy is still alive. Sam didn't know if you were an o'fan. Are you?" he says.

"My parents both died when I was a grown up," Jack says.

"Your son dieded too," Nate says very seriously.

"Yeah," Jack says closing his eyes.

"It was an accident," Nate says leaning into Jack, "You miss him."

"I do," Jack says, and he decides he will have to tell his son what really happened, but not now.

"I should probably get back to work," Daniel says.

"I should to," Sam says. "He hasn't had lunch, and after that ice cream he probably won't want it for a while. But he doesn't always know when he's hungry, so if he hasn't eaten in the next couple hours you should put food in front of him. He usually takes a nap around this time, but with the sugar it might be later or not at all. He should be fine even if he doesn't have a nap. Here is his base ID if you want to take him topside, let's see, what am I forgetting?" she asks.

"Whatever it is you are only a phone call away," he says.

"Right, and you've done this before," she says with a smile.

"It's been awhile," he says.

Sam turns to Nate, "I'll be right here if you need me, but you are so brave you won't need me right?"

Nate nods.

"Good boy. You be a good boy for your Daddy," she says kissing his forehead.

"Sam," he whines clinging to her.

"Tell you what, bud," Jack says, "How about we swing by Sam's lab once every hour you go without crying or begging to see her."

"How long is an hour?" Nate asks dubiously.

"It's about how long it's been since I met you," Jack says.

"Ok," Nate says giving Sam one last tight squeeze.

Jack remembers how frustrated Charlie was when he first taught him to play catch. It took him so long to learn how to make it easy for a kid to catch a ball.

"Ok, I'm going to throw it to you now," he says to Nate, "catch," he waits a second before he throws the ball. It lands right in Nate's open hands, and then bounces out. On the bounce Nate slams his hands shut, but they are open again before the ball bounces back down into them. It's all about the timing, Jack thinks to himself. Something about the delay in a child's brain and the expectation in the words. Jack didn't know why it worked, but he did know how to make it work.

"I catched it!" Nate says in surprise and shock.

"You did, awesome job!" Jack exclaims. "Can you throw it to me now?"

Nate nods, and makes a wild throw that ends just beyond his own feet. He looks at it with a frown. "Sorry I wasn't quite ready, can you throw it again?" Jack asks.

Nate chucks the ball harder this time, and it's a wild throw which bounces on the ground far out of Jack's reach. Jack makes a big show out of diving for it. "Oh, I missed that one! You're way better at this than me, Nate!" Jack exclaims.

Nate giggles, knowing his father is pulling his leg. Jack smiles at him. Filled with pride for his son already.

After a game of catch, they visit Sam, and Nate needs no more than one safe secure hug. Then they have lunch and a nap in Sam's quarters, which look more like a kid's room, than a room at a military institution.

When he wakes up Jack is just looking at him.

"What you doing?" Nate asks in confusion.

"Watching you sleep," Jack says.

"Why?" Nate says.

"Parents do things like that when they love their kids. And I've missed a lot of nap times," he says softly, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," he says softly, "I didn't know you existed."

Nate sits up crawling onto his father's lap trying to offer him comfort, "Mom said it was her fault you weren't 'round. She said you didn't want kids. Said you only helped her make me, because she wanted me so much. She said she never told you, because you were saving the world, and that was more important."

"Well, your mother was wrong. Very, very wrong. First of all, I wanted you every bit as much as she did. Maybe more. I thought I couldn't have kids, and I am so glad I was wrong. And you are way more important than saving the world, don't you ever forget that," he says kissing his son's head.

He leans into his father, "Sam saves the world."

"That she does," he says.

"Sam won't tell me what happened when she was gone. But I can tell by her face," he clings closer to him. "Fat somefing bad happened."

"Sam's fine," he says trying hard not to think about what Sam had looked like when he found her, laying motionless on the floor discarded by a replicator. He'd thought for one horrible second that she'd died. He'd felt unbelievable panic.

"Saving the world is dangerous," his son says. He knows that he can't lie to his son.

"Yeah, buddy, but nobody is in danger right now, ok?" he says softly.

Nate nods.

At six o'clock Jack and Nate arrive in Sam's lab. "Hey, I didn't know what time you were planning on leaving, if we're early…" Jack starts.

"No, I got a lot done today," she says with a smile, "I'll be done in a few minutes."

"Did you have fun today?" she asks Nate.

He nods, "Daddy wanted me," he whispered.

Sam looks at Jack, as she speaks to Nate, "your Daddy wanted you more than you can imagine."

"All right buddy," I'm going to head out," he says picking his son up, "I love you so much," he says with a big squeeze, "and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Sir," Sam says.

"Thank you again, Samantha," he says. And she is left staggered and wondering what he meant by the use of her first name.


	2. Changes

Again, thanks to my beta Bruised Reed you guys get to have an easy reading experience.

"Jack," she says into the phone wondering what his reaction will be to the use of his first name. She only used his first name once, and he said he could excuse her, because she had a head injury. This time she didn't have a head injury to excuse her. But he doesn't say anything, "Uh, I know it's still pretty early, but I've got the day off. Nate and I were planning on going to the park. I know you were planning on getting his room set up, so if you can't join us, we'd understand."

"You sound as insecure as Nate. The room doesn't have to be perfect his first night with me. Which park should I meet you guys in?" he asks.

Nate doesn't want to leave the car until he sees his father. Once the car is parked he gets out of his car seat and climbs into the front seat to push himself next to Sam. He pulls the Minnesota Twins baseball cap low over his eyes. "He's going to come," Sam assures him.

Nate doesn't respond.

"You might as well learn your father is a man of his word," Sam says.

Sam sees Jack's pickup pull up in the next parking lot. He opens the back door, and pulls something out. "What is it?" Nate asks leaning forward.

Sam sees fur, and wiggles, she grins "I think that's a puppy."

"Puppy!" Nate's eyes go wide, and he runs toward his father.

"Hey, buddy!" Jack says placing the bundle of fur in his son's arms while also transferring a hug. It's a Brittney Spaniel-Border Collie mix. It is tiny and long haired. It's mostly white with a large black spot covering most of its head, and small light brown spots covering the remainder of its legs.

"Whose puppy is?" Nate asks unable to believe his luck.

"Yours," Jack says.

"Can I take it to Sam's?" Nate asks.

Jack is pretty sure he knows the answer, but he glances at Sam anyway. A barely notable shake of the head and purse of the lip. "No, he's my dog too," Jack says.

"What's his name?" Nate asks.

"I thought you could name him," Jack says with a smile.

"Jack," Sam says gesturing him aside.

"Make sure you stay where you can see us, and keep the puppy on a leash; it isn't well trained yet," he says to Nate while he walks a bit away with Sam.

"I'm sorry, I know you were working on his room, and I took away half your day," Sam says.

"Not a problem," he says smiling.

"I wouldn't have done it except, he woke me up four times last night asking if he dreamed meeting you. All day he's been talking about how you're leaving, aren't coming, don't want him. I just…" she closes his eyes, "he was breaking my heart, and if he just knew you, Sir, I knew that all that doubt would…"

"No, I'm glad you called," he says looking at his son with concern, "should have called in the middle of the night last night," he says. "Ah, I should probably let you know I'm thinking about retiring."

"What?" Sam asks.

"He needs…he needs someone home with him all the time. I'm well over the years for Air Force retirement…"

"Sir, that's just enabling him, he's going to have to be away from us sometime," she protests.

"I know, but we're four months away from preschool. That's a couple hours a day, I can sit in the hall at first, you know ease into it. Then he'll be in kindergarten, and maybe I'll find something else to fill my days. Something that doesn't involve frequent overnight trips, and risking my life," he turns to her, "Sam, if he loses another parent it's going to destroy him. I can't…I can't justify risking myself when it means risking my son's well being."

"Sir, this is a knee jerk reaction. It's coming from a good place. You're trying to protect a truly wonderful little boy. But there are other things to consider," Sam says.

"Right, save the galaxy. I know. But remember what I said when we had the choice of letting Nirrti go or letting Cassie die?"

"If we're going to do that we might as well pack it in?" Sam says.

"Same with him. A parent has to put their kid before anything else. That's what parenthood is," he pauses, "But I've been contemplating retirement for a while, because of its other benefits," he says looking at her.

She looks back at him, "And they would be?" she asks.

"I don't know, maybe non-existent," he says looking away.

She sighs, "No they are there. They just aren't a good enough reason to retire."

"I think you're wrong," he says as he walks toward Nate.

The puppy is licking Nate's face, and Nate is giggling, "Why is he doing that?" Nate asks.

"It's a puppy's way of saying, 'I love you' and you know how a human says that to a dog?" Nate shakes his head, "You take your hand and scratch him right here, right behind the ear."

Nate does, and a look of intense pleasure crosses the dogs face. Nate looks up at father with awe in his face.

"Now, we've got to have a really, really, important talk kid," he says handing the puppy to Sam. She takes him, but makes an involuntary face, and holds him at arms distance.

"Wait a second," Jack says, "Schrödinger? Are you a cat person Carter?" he asks in disgust.

She nods.

"I suppose I can forgive that obvious character flaw since you have many positive attributes going for you," he says taking the dog back from her, "I can talk with squirms on my lap."

"Nate," he smiles at the kid who is obviously worrying, "I'm your Dad, and that means that I will always love you. I'm never going to leave you on purpose. If I am not where I told you I'm going to be because of something out of my control. And you will never be alone again. Someone will always be there to take care of you. I am going to take care of you, and love you every day of my life, you understand that?"

Nate's bottom lip quivers, "What if you die like Mama?" he whispers.

Jack pulls him close to him, right on his lap next to the squirming dog, "I can't promise you I'm not going to die, son, but I will try really hard to make sure I don't die. I know what it's like to lose someone, and I would do anything to protect you from that. God, I wish I could have saved your mother," he says closing his eyes, "And I would have been there when you were little, if I knew about you. I should have been there. I'm sorry I wasn't. I should have gone to see if you existed. I didn't think I would ever be lucky enough to have another son," Jack stops; surprised at how many times he's had to talk about Charlie in a brief forty-eight hours.

Nate nuzzles against Jack, and into his shoulder mutters, "I love you Daddy." He says it quiet, like he isn't quite sure if he wants anyone to hear. It brings tears to Jacks eyes.

"Love you too, son," he says kissing his head. He holds his son close for a good long time. Then he says, "Did Sam show you earth playgrounds?"

His son gives him an emphatic nod.

"What's your favorite part?" he asks.

"Puppy," his son says.

"Of course," Jack says.

"Does he do any tricks?" Nate asks.

"No, you have to teach a dog tricks. I once had a dog that could play red light green light," Jack informs him.

Nate laughs.

"I did," Jacks says.

"Sir…" Sam says in a warning tone.

"Ye of little faith! I'll teach this dog to do it to," he says.

"Right now," Nate says bouncing.

"It's not the kind of thing that is done in a day," he says.

"Or ever," Sam adds.

"I trained a dog to play red light green light," he says glaring at her.

"Right, sure you have, and I have a Yeti in my basement," Sam says.

"Do not terrify the child," Jack says.

"What is a Yeti?" Nate asks.

"An imaginary animal that grants wishes," Sam says.

Jack snorts.

Then they begin to play with the dog. Half play and half training. Come, sit, stay. Nate gives the dog so many treats he throws up. Nate tries to dare Jack to touch it. Jack tells him he's half a century too old to take a dare like that. Sam tries to explain to Nate what half a century is. Jack buys Nate ice cream. Sam scolds Jack for letting Nate have ice cream two days in a row. The dog ends up eating the ice cream. Nate cries. Sam buys him another cone. Then Nate fall asleep, still sticky on the grass. Sam makes sure the sun isn't shining on him, and they sit down to wait out his nap.

"Sorry, Sir, but if we try to move him he's guaranteed to wake up, and go nap-less, and cranky," Sam says.

"Quit apologizing for my kid acting like a kid," Jack says.

She takes a deep breath, "It's weird to raise someone else's kid."

"You're good at it though," he says, "I can't thank you enough for what you did."

"I'll stop apologizing if you quit thanking me," she says.

"Deal," he says."You're a good mom though," he says after a pause.

"I'm not his mother," she says sadly.

"You are," he says, "by choice not biology."

Sam smiles. "Thanks Jack. Uh…I have something I've been afraid to tell you about Nate."

Jack looks at her with terror, "What?" he asks.

"I know you don't like psychologists…but with Nate, I just…" she says.

"You didn't let McKenzie near him did you?" he asks.

"No, Dr. Hanis. I went with him the first couple of times. He still pops out to make sure I'm still near every once in a while. She's good," Sam says nervously, "I mean if you don't think…"

"You did right, Sam. The kid needed help. I don't hate psychologists. I hate people who hurt my friends. Therefore I hate McKenzie. I've actually been to a psychologist."

Sam looks at him in surprise, "After the whole POW thing…the Air Force. Anyway," he says looking away clearly wishing for a change in topic, "When does he go?"

"Thursdays at two," she says.

"You think he's going to be ok?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says, "It's going to take a long time, but he is going to be just fine."

"I'm glad you were here for them…you lost your mom as a kid, I can't imagine what that was like," he says.

"You know what loss is," she says.

"Losing Charlie wasn't anything like losing a parent when you are little," he says.

"Losing a mom when you're fourteen isn't really like losing a mom when you are three either," Sam says.

"I suppose not," he says.

"I think Daniel understands it the most. I mean eight is different than three too, but Cassie and I…we were old enough that we knew what death was. I don't really know if that makes it better or worse, but it certainly makes it different," she says.

"What does he know about Charlie?" Jack asks.

"Everything," she says, "Well, everything Daniel or I knew. I hope that's ok..."

"What exactly did you tell him about…about Charlie's death, and me?"

"Jack, that wasn't your fault. It was an accident. You would have never, ever, ever done anything to harm Charlie on purpose, and your son deserves to know that," she says looking him straight in the eye from the first word to the last.

"If it wasn't for me, Charlie would still be alive; Nate deserves to know that," Jack says. "I'm dreading telling him. But it's my job. I'm going to…"

"Jack, no matter what you tell that kid, he's going to reach the same conclusion as the rest of us. Charlie's death was not your fault, and if I have to repeat that to you a million times to get you to believe that, I'm perfectly willing."

"That won't be necessary Major," he says coolly.

"Is there anything I could do to convince you?" she asks.

"Drop it," he says.

"Ok, Sir," she says with a sigh, "How is "insert name of your favorite hockey team" doing?"

He grins, "Winning, always winning."

The dog escapes from Jack's arms, and begins licking Nate's face. "Get back here dog!" Jack exclaims quietly trying to grab him.

"It's ok, Meteor, you saw I was awake," Nate says.

"Meteor? You're naming him Meteor?" Jack asks.

"Yeah, because Meteors is what made you stranded with Mommy," Nate says.

Jack makes a face, "I suppose that is accurate, but you make it sound like my time with your Mom was awful, it…" he glances at Sam, between a rock and hard place, "I mean I spent a few months moping, because I couldn't go home, and then…then the time with your mother was good," he says to Nate.

Sam is giggling at him. He glares at her.

"So Meteor," Jack says, "Come here, Meteor."

The dog continues to ignore Jack.

"After naptime snuggles, Nate?" Sam asks.

Nate nods and deposits himself on her lap snuggling into her. Jack finds himself jealous, and not just of Sam. He'd gladly trade places with his son right now, but for a very different reason.

"Cr…ud, I forgot to get a car seat," Jack says.

"It's ok, you can use mine for now," Sam says.

"It's still pretty early, you want to come over?" he asks.

"Please Sam!" the kid begs.

"I'll make you dinner," Jack says.

"I'm sure you mean order me dinner, Sir," she says teasingly.

"No, I can cook, 'course I'll have to leave off the best ingredient since one of the people partaking is decadently underage," he says looking at his son.

Sam laughs, "No beer steaks, Sir?"

"Well, maybe two with one without?" he asks.

Nate scoots from Sam's lap, to his fathers. He wraps his arms around his father's neck and whispers, "I love you."

Jack pulls him tight, "I love you too Buddy, more than you can imagine."

"Sorry, about the mess," Jack says gesturing to his house.

"Fis is my room?" Nate says looking around confused at the living room of the house. A child's airplane shaped bed with dogs all over the blanket is in the center of the room.

"No," Jack says with a chuckle, "I just put your bed out here for the night, because I painted your room, and the fumes cannot be good for you. You want to see your room?"

Nate nods.

"Work in progress," Jack warns as he opens the door. "This is peridot, by the way," he says indicating the wall.

"I like it," Nate says.

"Good," Jack says with satisfaction. The walls all have a fresh coat of paint, as do the children's desk, the dresser, toy box, and the bookshelf. They have all been painted a darker shade of the bright green on the walls. The ceiling is the masterpiece though. It is painted black, and has a cluster of little dots in the center of it.

"Stars!" Nate says looking up.

"Yeah, stars exactly like they are over Endora, but that isn't the cool part," he says shutting the curtain and the door. There is still a fair amount of light streaming into the room in various ways, but the ceiling glowed.

Nate is bouncing up and down.

"Sir, this is amazing," Sam says, "They are really the configuration over Endora? How did you find that?"

He nods, and points to his head, "I spent a lot of time watching the stars there, Sam. I haven't got very far. Michelangelo must have been some kind of an all star to paint on ceilings that long. But right about here," he says pointing to a bare spot of the ceiling, "Is where our sun will go. I'm thinking of putting a little earth rotating around it. I mean obviously you can't see that, but…I don't know, thought it would be cool, and I was thinking about adding some 'Fire Rain'. Bud, did you ever actually see the fire rain?" he asks his son.

"Yeah! Garan took me last year. Mommy doesn't like to watch the fire rain anymore, but Garan said it was something you have to experience."

"Cool, now as awesome as this room is. I'm sure what you're really going to care about is the next room. That is where I put all the clothes and toys I picked up for you until this room is ready to go."

Nate was off and running.

"Sir, this is…amazing," Sam mutters.

"Just spoiling him rotten, wait until you see the other room," he says.

By the time the adults walk the few feet until Jack's guest bedroom Nate has already dumped most of the plastic bags on the floor. He paws through the clothes to see if there are any toys hidden in them, and then leaves them in a heap. The toys he seizes onto, tries for about three seconds to free from them from their packaging, and then tosses aside as a new toy meets his eye.

"It's like Christmas on steroids," Sam mutters in awe.

"I better go get the scissors and start helping him open some packages," Jack says with a laugh. The rest of the afternoon Nate plays with his new toys. Sam helps Jack make dinner. Then Jack gives his son a bath. When he comes out he's found Sam has refolded all the clothes, and put the toys in a pile. They take turns reading Nate to sleep. Then Sam transfers her car seat to Jack's truck. When she comes in to hand him the keys he can see the reluctance in leaving. He doesn't want her to go any more than she wants to leave. There are a million things that he wants to say to her, but he knows it's not time yet to say any of them.

"So tomorrow, I was thinking I'd come in for a half day. If he could hang out in your office from like eight to nine that would be perfect. Then I could take him for the rest of the day. When you're ready to leave you could stop by my office and pick him up…"

"You're actually going to be in your office?" she teases.

"Packing up, closing things down," he says.

Her face falls, "You are really leaving the SGC?"

"Yeah," he says, "When do you go off world next?"

"Day after tomorrow 10am departure," she says.

"If you don't want him the night before a mission…" he begins.

"I want him. Last time I'll get to see him for three days," she says, "I'm going to miss you."

He was expecting her to say 'him' for that last word and it catches him off guard, "You'll still see me all the time."

"Hopefully, even more often," she says leaving before the words can even sink into his head.

"More often?" he mutters to himself, "More often than every day? Sweet!"


	3. Moving Forward

Thanks again to the amazing Bruised Reed for all her editing work!

"Dr. Weir." Jack asks. He has barely met his new commander, and it seems weird to be handing her his retirement request.

She takes it and reads it over, and hands it back to him. "This about your son?"

"Yeah, he needs me, and I'm past the time of saving the earth," Jack says casually.

"Has anyone ever thanked you for how often you save the earth, asking for nothing in return?' she asks.

Hammond wouldn't even try that tactic. Hammond got that Jack hated praise and recognition. It was part of the reason Jack went into Special Forces. Sure, you might get medals with fancy titles, he had plenty of those, but no one ever knew what you did to earn them. Same with the Stargate program. "I'm making a list," he jokes.

She smiles, "The president has asked me to supervise the research at the Atlantic site."

"Does this mean we're getting Hammond back?" he asks eagerly, a little too eagerly. If Hammond was coming back, he made up his mind that he was going to wait for him before he submitted his retirement. That would be fitting.

"No, he got a promotion, they are putting him in charge of something called Homeworld Security-the SGC, Antarctic site, and the 303 Project," Dr. Weir said.

"Any idea who we're going to be stuck with?" he asks suddenly worried he'll feel obligated to stay and defend the good men and women of the base from whatever jerk they marched in here.

"Well you know him rather well. Brigadier General Jack O'Neill," she says.

His heart stops, she can't be serious. "Me?" he squeaks.

"Yeah, you," she says.

"Brigadier. It's on my list." He says.

"Congratulations," Dr. Weir says, and if he isn't mistaken, she looks…relieved.

"I should be clear," he says standing up, "I like the promotion, the paycheck and the parking spot. But I don't really wanna be in charge of anything. And my son really needs me full time right now. No."

"Well, sadly, all those things kind of go together. So I guess you have some thinking to do," she says.

"I hate that," he says. His mind is working as fast as possible as he walks down the corridor to Sam's lab. It keeps on working as his son wraps himself around him, and gives him a kiss on the cheek, which nearly melts his soul.

"How did it go?" Sam asks looking worried.

"Uh…it was kind of complicated," he says.

"What?" Sam asks, and he sees home on her face as well.

"I was offered a promotion," he says.

"Congratulations General!" she says practically bowed down by the weight of his title.

"I was **offered **a promotion," he repeats.

Her face falls, "What job does it come with?"

"Head of SGC," he says.

"You're kidding," her eyes lit up, "You're going to be wonderful, Sir!"

"I haven't accepted," he says.

"Hey Buddy," Sam says, and it doesn't escape Jack's notice that she's calling his son by his name for him, "Why don't you listen to music?" she asks offering him headphones and turning the music on.

"Sir, it's what you wanted, a safe job, so Nate won't have to worry about losing you," she says.

"Generals are awfully busy people. They don't have much time for traumatized sons, not nearly as much time as a stay at home dad would," he whispers, not trusting his son not to put the headphones on crooked so he can still hear. It is definitely something that Charlie would have pulled.

"Sir, Nate is going to be in school full time in a year and a half. Are you sure you want to give up your career for a year and a half of being there for him? I mean this is a chance to make General," she says.

"When I joined the Air Force I never thought I'd make Lieutenant," he says.

"You were enlisted?" Sam asked in shock.

"Back in the day, I sure was, Ms. Academy," he says.

"Sir, General," she says again.

"A whole life of sticking it to the man, and now I'm going to be the man?" he asks in disgust. "I don't think I can be the man."

"I don't know, you seem to make a pretty good man," she says before she can catch herself, and there is an awkward moment.

He sighs, he's going to make a distraction to end the awkwardness, and it's going to be one heck of a distraction. "My Dad worked two jobs when I was growing up. Never saw the man. I know now, he did it for us. He got us out of a pretty crappy neighborhood. Bad schools too, but being the youngest I didn't really deal with that. Then he worked for the clothes, and the books, and the bikes, and the cars, and the college that would make us all successful in life. And we were…all of us. But if I could have had the choice between that and having my dad around…I would have picked my Dad. Sure, I could take this job and claim I'm doing it for Nate. I could say I want him to have a General for a father, and the nicest of stuff. But the truth is, I've been a bachelor for seven years, and am a man of pretty simple taste. I can already buy my son pretty nice stuff. You saw the loot last night. I'd rather give him myself. If I am a General, taking care of this place, I'm going to have to worry about everyone else, and everyone else's family. I'm not going to be able to promise my kid I'm going to be somewhere, and be sure of keeping that promise. You know how often Hammond had to disappoint those granddaughters of his? And I'm not Nate's Grandpa, although lord knows I'm almost old enough, I'm his Dad, and…I'm pretty sure I'm going to say no. I just needed someone to try to talk me out of it before I made my final call," he says.

He looks at her face, and doesn't think she's going to try to talk him out of it. He can understand that, after all she has something to gain from all of this as well. She is silent for a long time before she quietly says, "Sir, why does it always have to be you? Any time there needs to be someone in the galaxy giving something up, you're the first in line. When are you EVER going to get something in return?"

It's a far more convincing argument than he expected from her. For a minute he's set a bit off balance, and then he smiles at her, "I'm getting a pretty big return this time," he says looking first at his son, and then a quick glance at her.

She takes a sharp intake of breath, and he is pleased that he took her breath away. For the first, and hopefully not the last time.

"I'm going to go talk to Weir," he says.

"You should think about it, Sir," she says.

He smiles, "I know what I want." He turns to his son, and signals for him to remove the ear phones "Daddy's going to be gone for a little bit longer ok?" he says picking him up and hugging him.

"Are you going frough fe gate?" the kid asks.

"No bud, nothing dangerous, I promise," he says. And in his head Jack adds, nothing dangerous ever again. But he doesn't say that part out loud. He isn't about to make a promise to his boy, until he is a hundred percent positive. In other words, give it an hour.

"Sir?" Sam asks uncertainly, and the same time that Nate says, "Daddy."

He scoops up his son and says, "You can't call me that anymore Samantha, I'm retired."

"Why are you tired?" Nate asks looking at his Dad with concern, almost panic, making Jack realize tiredness was possibly the first sign Nate's mother had that she was sick.

Jack smiles, setting his son on Sam's lab bunch. "Not tired, retired. It means I'm not going to work anymore."

"Why not?" Nate asks.

"Lots of reasons. One of them is my son," he says rubbing his head.

His son goes pale. "No…you…you save fe world. If you…" and his son looks like he's about to cry.

Jack closes his eyes; he should have taken this into account.

"Apparently self-sacrifice runs in the family," Sam mutters.

"Hey bud," he says holding his son close to him, "You listen to me. I chose to retire. And I wouldn't have been saving the world anyway. They would have stuck me behind a desk and made me a politician. You know what that is?" his son shakes his head, "it is something that Daddy is very, very bad at."

Sam snorts.

"And there is another important reason I wanted to retire…" Jack begins.

But Sam cuts him off with a warning sound, "Jack…"

"…but you're too young to understand," Jack finishes.

Another snort from Sam, and a bewildered look from Nate.

"Someday I'll explain it to you, I promise," Jack says, and that cheers his son up as well as earning another snort from Sam.

"I'm going to let you choose what you want to do with the rest of the day. I'm going to clean out my office, and Sam's going to work. You are going to stay with Sam tonight. Tomorrow she's leaving on a trip for a couple days," he says.

Nate begins sobbing, jumps off the lab bench, which is just high enough to make the adults worry he's hurt himself, without him having hurt himself, and slams into Sam. "No," he sobs, "Please don't go!"

Sam holds him close stroking his head, "It's ok, I'm going to be ok." Over his son's head, Jack can see that Nate is breaking Sam's heart.

"Hey, Sam's going to be ok. You were just telling me to go save the world, that's all Sam's going to do," he says rubbing his back.

"Sam has to go, but I don't want her too," he says nuzzling in.

"You know Sam's been doing this for seven years? Seven years, and she always comes home. She's going to be fine," he says.

Nate lifts his head off her shoulder. "Sam will be ok?" he sniffs.

"Yeah, she's got Uncle Danny and Uncle T to protect her. Uncle T is pretty scary, right? He'll keep the bad stuff away from Sam," he says. Meanwhile he's thinking he liked it better when he was there to help keep the bad stuff away from his whole team.

"I'll stay with Sam," he sniffs.

"Ok, that's great buddy, I'd love to have you, but this would be your only chance to see your Daddy's office, so I want you to think about that before you make your final choice," Sam says with a smile.

He silently reaches out to his Dad.

"Ok, Bud, can you go into the hall for a second while I talk to Sam? We'll be safe in here, and I want you to stay in sight of the door, 'kay?"

His son nods gravely, and takes one step outside of the open door where he stands staring at them.

"Shut the door," Jack says laughing, even though he knows his son wasn't actually trying to be funny.

He does, and Jack grins at Sam, "So…I talked to Teal'c on my way back to see if he was free on Wednesday night, after you guys get back."

"Really? I never quite pictured you and Teal'c together," Sam tries to do it in a serious face, but can't manage all the way through.

"I thought since Daniel has a phobia of my son, and Teal'c has informed me on multiple occasions that Jaffa don't possess fear he would be a good choice in babysitter," Jack says ignoring her witty comment.

"Actually Jaffa are afraid of many things, including grieving children, but it would probably be good for Nate to have a few hours away from you," she pauses, "Of course, I could do it, but he really needs time away from both of us."

"That's what I was thinking," he says, "And you couldn't do it. Well, I mean…ah, hell, do you want to go to dinner Samantha?"

"Of course, Jack," she says.

"Of course, after you torture me!" he mutters.

"As long as you're sure you wouldn't rather date Teal'c," she says sly.

"Pretty sure, Sam," he says. "So was I right about you not wanting the kid to know?" he asks concerned.

"Yeah, not yet…I mean the way he gets attached. I want to be absolutely, 1,000 % certain…" she begins.

"Percents only go up to a hundred, as a scientist you should know that," he says.

"Percents can go over a hundred, Jack. There could be a 300 % increase in air pressure," she begins.

"Percent increase, not percent, you can't be more than 100% certain," Jack says.

"So now that we're dating you're going to stop the dumb act?" she asks.

"Only if you promise not to tell anyone," he says.

"Deal," she says moving to open the door.

"Hug," Sam says holding out her arms. She squeezes the little boy tight, before depositing him in Jack's arms.

"Drop him off before you leave for the day?" she asks.

"Yeah," Jack says, "And we picked up a car seat yesterday, so that should make things easier," he says with a smile.

"What kind did you get, because…." She starts, and then she stops, "I'm sure you picked out a safe one."

"Actually, I figured you probably knew a lot more about that that I did, so I got the same kind you already did," he says with a smile, and he watches her relax. He loves the way she worries about Nate.

* * *

Jack finds that he likes retirement, this time at least. The first time…well that had been hell, but it wasn't because of retirement, it was because he'd lost his son. So it'd been empty, and cold, and filled with the longing for death.

The second time had been after Abydos. He'd almost liked it that time. He'd needed time to heal and lick his wounds. Charlie was dead, and Sarah was gone, and he'd spent most of that retirement learning to live again. But near the end of that year, when he'd been able to get out of bed without having to talk himself into it for half an hour or bribe himself, near the end he'd started to be bored. He'd felt the stars calling him, like there was something really important he should be doing instead of watching hockey, and Simpsons, and the stars, and reading all the classics he hadn't had time for when he was in college. Something out there was waiting for him.

The third time of course, he hadn't really retired. He was pretending to work for some really nasty people, and his team hated him. Not his idea of fun. His team had thought he was going to retire with Laira. He'd been on that planet. If he'd just stopped in to say hi, he'd have known. Well, probably. Laira would have been what? A month a half along by then? So maybe even then he wouldn't have known. But even if she didn't know then, if he'd stopped by and asked, when she did know she probably would have dialed earth to let him know. He should have asked.

His fourth retirement, he wasn't depressed, or bored, or lonely. He was happy being a parent. He would have been happier of course, if his son didn't have nightmares. If his son wasn't terrified that Sam was never coming back.

But there were so many things he loved. He remembered the wonderful feeling of rocking in a chair as a child cuddled against you. When the rhythm of the chair, and the words of a book, and the light massage of the back all became one steady beat marching adult and child into the world of dreams. He remembers the soft child scent. The trust in eyes as arms reached to be picked up. The amazing sedative effect of sleeping children. The pride you feel when strangers stop to admire. The glow in his heart when your son says, "I love you."

He found that he was missing Sam almost as much as his son did. Of course, he wasn't screaming her name in the middle of the night or begging anyone to call up the SGC just to make sure she was alright. But he did get a sort of pleasant/unpleasant sort of twist in his stomach whenever he thought of her, and he did think of her quite often.

Well, if he was honest with himself, he'd been thinking of her quite often for seven years. But for seven years he'd been fighting those thoughts, trying to twist the love that ran through them into pride or admiration. Trying to deceive himself by comparing his actions or thoughts toward her to his toward Daniel or Teal'c or Kowalsky or any of the soldiers he'd served with over the years. But on the rare times he was honest with himself he knew that the only person he could compare his feelings for Sam to was Sarah, and he'd stopped feeling that way about Sarah a long time ago.

* * *

On the second day they went through to visit Garan, Nate's brother. Jack felt responsible for him in a way. He found the man married, and settled into the Endoran version of middle class life. Jack offered Garan life on earth, but was refused. Jack gave him what modern gadgets would work without electricity, and invited him to Earth for Christmas as well as agreeing to come back with Nate on the next Endoran holiday.


	4. Begining

Thanks again to the amazing Bruised Reed for all her editing work!

On Wednesday morning, Jack woke up with a stomachache which he quickly tried to blame on last night's pizza, on the stomach flu, on accidently using Nate's little kid toothpaste, anything but what he knew was its true cause-the fact that he was nervous like a teenager.

"Is Sam coming over when she gets back?" Nate asks.

"Uh, no," Jack says, "but you can call her on the phone."

"And ask her to come over?" Nate asks hopefully.

Jack rolls his eyes. He and Sam had planned on him picking Sam up at her house, all discrete so Nate wouldn't figure out they were dating. He'd see Sam tonight, but his son wouldn't. Which in hindsight seemed like a pretty selfish plan.

"No, remember buddy, Teal'c is going to watch you for awhile tonight," Jack says.

"Why can't Sam do it?" Nate whines.

"Because Sam has something important to do tonight too, and she has the day off tomorrow, so you'll get to spend tomorrow with her," he says.

"I want to see her now, make sure she is ok, is she ok?" Nate asks nervously.

"Of course she is bud. They would tell us if she was hurt. She's just fine," he says.

* * *

He needn't have worried about Nate not seeing Sam that day. Sam stopped by only an hour after SG-1 arrived back. Nate leapt into her arms, and she rocked him back and forth for a solid minute before she started cooing words to him, "Hey, I'm fine. Told you I'd be fine. I missed you so much, Nate. It's ok. I've got you." She went on cooing for another few minutes before she let him go. Part of the reason it took so long for her to release him was the fact that she was discretely trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

"Did you even get cleared to leave base that fast?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Yes," she says. He raises his eyebrows in a good imitation of Teal'c, "I might have bribed Daniel to actually keep his briefing brief, and made sure Janet got me through the infirmary quick, and I might have neglected the shower."

"You sure you want to keep hugging her if she hasn't showered in three days?" he asks his son, whose only answer is the continued emphatic clinging to Sam.

"I'll take that as a yes," he says.

"I figured I'd rather shower before getting ready," she said cryptically.

"Ready for what?" Nate asks pulling his head away to look at her.

"Ready for bed," she answers.

"Will you stay for dinner?"Nate asks.

"Uh, no, I've actually got to get home," she says.

"And you kiddo, will be having dinner with Uncle Teal'c," Jack says.

"Sam, can't you stay wif me when Daddy leaves?" Nate pleads.

She looks him in the eye, "If I thought that is what you needed, I would absolutely do that in a second. But I think it will be good for you to be away from me and your Daddy for a little bit. And Teal'c will take good care of you. As good as me or your Daddy. If I thought there was the tiniest chance he wouldn't take good care of you, I'd never let you stay with him. Do you understand that?"

"Who will take care of you?" he mutters burying his face in her shoulder.

"Trust me, Nate, Sam can take care of herself. This one time there was a Mongolian…you know what never mind, but she can definitely take care of herself," Jack says.

Nate snuggles against her again. Jack says, "Although I know what you mean. I feel much better when I'm with Sam, and know that I can take care of her too," he says giving a message for each of the people he loves.

"I really should get going," she says giving Nate a kiss on his cheek, "But I will see you tomorrow. I'll see you later, Jack," she says handing him Nate and leaving.

"Daddy, you said Sam was busy, she with Pete?" Nate asks.

Jack stops cold. Sam had given him the impression that the thing with Pete was over a long time ago. He hadn't even known Nate and Pete had even met, "No, I…I don't think Sam will be seeing Pete anymore," he says.

"Good," Nate says oblivious to the worry he has inflicted on his father.

* * *

Jack has seen Carter in a dress before. Not often, unless you counted the Air Force dress skirt, which he didn't, and which still probably didn't qualify as often. But he had seen her in a dress before. Usually on some alien planet when she was trying to blend in with the locals, although twice in seven years he'd seen her in an earth dress. Once he'd actually beat her to base, and he'd seen her arrive in some flirty civilian sun dress which had nearly killed him. Another time he just happened to run into her a restaurant. She'd been there with some guy. Yes, he'd ordered her to get a life, but it still nearly killed him. Particularly since he'd come there by himself. And of course her looks had nearly killed him in a few of those off world dresses as well. Not many people can pull off a Mongolian-smells-like-a-goat-embroidered-to-death-floor-length-dress while looking hot, but Sam certainly could (as evidenced by her eventual kidnapping).

But this dress.

"Sam," he says.

She grins, "Ready to go, Sir?"

"No more sir," he says.

"Seven years, hard habit to break," she says.

"I could make it an order," he says.

"Ah, but I don't have to follow your orders anymore, JACK," she says with a sly grin.

"So retirement has a downside," he says as the two of them walk out of her house. She is surprised when he holds the pickup door open for her. She never really pictured Jack as the chivalrous type. Well, actually he was very chivalrous, but more the traditional chivalrous rules. You know, don't fight an unarmed man; someone who saves your life is your friend forever. Not the new type of chivalry which involved opening doors and other useless tasks.

They sit quietly in the car for a few minutes before Sam realizes this isn't the comfortable silences they are so used to; something is wrong.

"Jack, is something the matter?" she asks.

"Nate was asking after Pete," he says softly.

"Jack, Pete and I broke up," she says sounding offended.

"How long ago?" he asks not glancing at her.

"A month and two week ago," she says.

"So two weeks after you started taking care of Nate?" he asks.

"Yeah," Sam says.

"You told me my son was not the reason you broke up with Pete," Jack says still not glancing at her.

"He wasn't, really" she says.

"And yet two weeks later…"Jack says.

"Look Jack. Pete was great with Nate. Actually, Pete was great overall," Suddenly Jack is really wishing he hadn't brought this up. He was delusional to think he could ever have someone as amazing as Samantha Carter, "Really, about the only thing wrong with Pete was he wasn't you."

Jack turns his head to Sam in quick surprise.

She smiles, "I mean I had everything I thought I ever wanted. I had a great kid. A great guy. Pete talked about marriage…"

Jack makes a choking sound. "You dated him for what?" he starts.

"Six months, yeah, that was pretty much my reaction. He talked about adopting Nate if I ended up adopting him. And he talked about a house…my dream house. And I felt like I was drowning, because he was offering me everything I ever wanted, but it wasn't right. And I knew it would never be right, until…" she looks at him, "until it was you. And I just knew I was done with marking time. Done with make-believe. It was time to just wait. Even if the waiting was going to be forever."

"God Sam," he murmurs uncharacteristically overcome with emotion.

"I'm sorry, this is supposed to be a first date," she says with a laugh, "and I'm spilling my soul."

He looks at her, "Not going to have to wait forever," he says.

"Thank God for that," she says. There is silence in the cab of the truck for a little bit before she says, "I told Nate that Pete wasn't coming back. I shouldn't have introduced them, I know. That's why I'm so careful about this," she says gesturing between them. "He doesn't need to know about either of our dating lives until it's going to be a forever thing. I hope…I mean you aren't mad that I let Pete be around him? I never let him be alone with him."

"Wouldn't have cared if you did. Pete is a good guy," Jack sighs, "Almost kills me to say it, but it's the truth."

"Almost kills you to say it? Jack you practically threw me at him every step of the way! From the first humming in the elevator on!" she says.

"Well, you deserve to be happy, Sam. And I didn't think I'd…hell, I was starting to give up on the war with the Gou'ald actually ending. And until my son entered the picture I couldn't actually imagine myself retiring until the war with the Gou'ald was over. You deserved way better than waiting around for a used up soldier. You still deserve better now that the waiting is out of the picture," he says glancing at her nervously.

"We've established I don't want anyone else," she says.

"All these years I've been thinking you were smart, Carter," he says.

"Smart enough to see through you O'Neill," she replies with a grin.

Later when he's in the restaurant Jack says, "I'm not very good at this."

"What eating salad? I can't say I've seen you do it very often," Sam replies.

"I eat plenty of salad," he says, "but I meant you know emotions, dating, this," he says gesturing around the table.

She snorts.

"What is so funny?" he asks.

"First of all, everyone and their second cousin twice removed knows you aren't so great at emotions, Jack. And about the dating…you have a three year old son," she says.

"Well, that wasn't so much dating as…as getting to know someone, trust them, and" he spun his arms.

"That's kind of what dating is," Sam says.

"Right, just the formal…ah…dating thing. Haven't done that since Sarah," he mutters.

"What?" she says disbelieving.

"You picture me out on the town every weekend, Carter?" he asks.

"If I can't call you Sir, you've got to stop calling me Carter too. First names only, Jack," she says, "and no, but I mean…come on you're too great to... No one, Sir?"

"As far as dating, pretty much," he says.

"Ok, but I know about Sarah, and Kynthia, and Laira, and I'm pretty sure the few women I know about aren't the only ones in your life, after all half the base is infatuated with you," she says.

"You're going to call what Kynthia and I did dating?" he asks choosing to ignore the rest of his comment.

"Ok, so for you dating and sex are separate. I just hope they aren't mutually exclusive," she says. Jack chokes on his salad. "I like you off balance, bashful," she says.

"Choking to death?" he adds.

She smiles, "I'll try to not to insult your Victorian sensibilities anymore, Jack."

"Or we can just talk about how many people you've slept with," he says teasingly.

"Three," she says.

He looks up at her surprised.

"Jonah, Orlin, Pete," she says.

"Orlin?" He says. She nods, "He wasn't human."

"Kynthia was a month old" she replies.

Jack makes an awful face, and then says, "Sorry, didn't mean to be judgmental, but I was just wondering…did he have a physical body?"

"Not at first, but before that we…there is a brain sharing thing that ascended beings consider sex. And then when he had a body…" she mutters.

"Hold it. Wasn't mind sharing what caused you to pass out on that planet?" he asks.

"Yeah, apparently I passed out, because I didn't know what was coming," she says knowing what he's getting at.

"Because he didn't ask you?" Jack asks, and he could see he's pissed.

"Jack it wasn't like that. I mean it wasn't really sex, so it couldn't be rape," she says.

"Hopefully I'll never have to deal with that…with Orlin ever again," he muttered.

"Jack," she touches her arm, "He didn't hurt me I swear."

"Ok," Jack says with a sigh, "You also have to add on two more to my list. You don't know them, but if you want names…"

"No, that's ok," she says.

"They were before Sarah," he clarifies, "and my three earth romances included dating and sex, so not mutually exclusive," he says.

"Good to hear, I just hope after all the time we spent off world I still quality as an earth romance," she says.

"Yeah, eventually we will," he says.

"So if we're talking exes, can you tell me what happened with Sarah. I mean, I know Charlie…if it was just Charlie, you don't have to talk about it."

"No, it wasn't just Charlie," he says, "It was my stupid way of dealing with Charlie's death. It was my sitting motionless contemplating suicide. My refusal to talk. The fact that I was never going to be the husband she wanted, that I could never give her the kids she wanted. There were problems before that too. Sarah was sick of the military. She was sick of me coming home broken and bruised either mentally or physically or both. She was tired or nursing me back to health, and you know what kind of a patient I am, Sam, you can't blame her. I got my twenty years in about a year before Charlie died. She was done. Done with my sorry wounded ass. Done with the worry, the secrecy. Done with me being MIA across enemy lines. Twenty years of that is enough, well, nineteen years of that Sarah was married to me. She wanted me out when I got my twenty. But…" he closed his eyes, "I didn't want out. I was Air Force through and through. We fought a lot that last year. By the time Charlie died, he was the only thing holding us together. And then I shut down. I didn't have the energy to fight for my marriage. All my energy went into grieving for my son."

She is silent for a little bit before her stunned voice says, "Not emotionally shut down now."

"Yeah, well I have my moments," he mutters.

"Thank you Jack," she says very sincerely.

"So if we're talking exes can you tell me what the hell you were thinking when you agreed to marry Jonas Hansen?" he asks.

"He was…really considerate when we first met. I was somewhat fooled," she says.

"Plus you've always had a thing for the lunatic fringe right?" he asks.

She smiles, "Listening to me and Daniel's conversations, Jack? Yeah, well, I guess I wasn't kidding. Although the really damaged ones are always the ones who seem to have a thing for ME."

"Well, I certainly qualify in the damaged department," he says.

"You've…healed a lot of your damage," she says.

"No, pushed it around. Made fun of it. Let it fade a little is all," he says, "If you're looking for a sane man you are going to have to look somewhere else."

"I'll take you as you are, Jack. But my days of trying to fix men are over. That never turns out particularly well for either of us."

"And anyway you have my son to fix," he says.

"Not funny, Jack," she mutters.

"No, sorry," he mutters. "So what about all your other alien admirers?" She doesn't respond so, he clarifies, "You know Narim, Fifth, Marty, Thor."

"Thor does not have a crush on my, Jack!" she protests.

"I don't know, after that hug…" she says.

"If Thor has a crush on any Earthling it would be you and your superior DNA," she says.

"Now wait, Thor is a boy," he pouts.

"Asgard don't have genders," she says.

"Yes, they do," he says, "They may not have sexes, but they have genders."

She smiles, for years she's wondered at Jack's college major, with a distinction like that she's thinking soft scientists, "So tell me why you hated Martouf," she says slyly.

"He was manipulative," Jack mutters through clenched teeth.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"Oh, come on he used those mind thingies, which I really hate by the way, in order to make you remember touchy feely moments with this ex girlfriend."

"He was just trying to get the memory of my Mom's death out of my head," she says.

"Yeah, he had 10,000 years of memories to pick from, and yet he draws out one that involved the two of you kissing on the beach," Jack says. "And Nahim did a similar thing…" Suddenly Jack freezes.

"Who told you about the emotion player?" Sam asks.

"What is an emotion player?" Jack asks.

"Yeah, now that we're dating you might as well know I don't buy the 'dumb Jack' act thing. Was it Janet or Daniel?" she says.

"You told Daniel?" he asks in shock before he can stop himself.

"Anyway you're right, Narim, Orlin, Martouf…they were all emotionally manipulative and a little stalkerish. But let's talk about your favorite Tok'ra, Anise."

Jack rolls his eyes, "Ok, that doesn't even count. She only half liked me. The other half liked Daniel. Marty was all about you."

"Did she really offer herself to you right in the isolation room with cameras and everything?" Sam asks.

"Daniel must learn to keep his mouth shut," Jack responds.

"You have had almost as many women throw themselves at you as I've had men. But my rebuttal rate is much higher than yours. I said yes to Orlin, one out of four, five if you count Thor. You accepted two out of three."

"Kynthia doesn't count," he says.

"Ah, Jack, you contracted a nearly fatal sexually transmitted disease. I don't think you can really claim innocence."

"I was drugged," he says.

Her teasing smile fades. "Oh my God. I mean I know you were. But…you were so nice to her after that…"

"No," he says with a sigh, "If you look at the facts that is what happened, but the meaning is different than the facts. Just like what Orlin did to you sounds awful but wasn't. Same with Kynthia. I just want it on the record if I knew what was in the cake I wouldn't have eaten it. And if I was sober I wouldn't have had sex in a room full of people."

Her eyes bulge, "There were other people there?" she says.

"You saw that communal sleeping area," he says confused by her shock.

"Yeah, but I thought…I don't know, I guess I didn't realize you'd…Ok, I'm pretty bad at putting things together," she says.

"'Sokay. You've also got a lot of non-alien admirers. Agent Barrett, Ambassador Faxon, and McKay."

"Well you can rest assured you'll never have competition from McKay. From no one really, but especially not McKay."

"Come on, he's charming…" Jack starts.

"Annoying," she adds.

"He's definitely damaged," Jack supplies.

"He'll be more damaged if I have to spend more time with him again," she mumbles ,"Not a typical first date discussion," she says apologetically.

"Not a typical first date. Most people on their first date don't know each other like we do," he says.

"True enough!" she says.

His phone rings, and they both know who it is even before they pick up. They can hear a panicked Jaffa. Of course, it was hard to tell the Jaffa was panicked, because his voice was still even, "O'Neill, how long can humans survive without oxygen?"

"What!" Jack shouts.

"NathavinO'Neill refuses to breathe until MajorCarter returns home," Teal'c says.

"He wants Sam?" Jack asks.

"He had a dream in which Samantha died," Teal'c says.

"Tell him if he calms down, I'll be there in thirty minutes, and Teal'c, we'll both be there in ten," he says.

"Your three year old son has a Jaffa terrified," Sam says.

"If I wasn't so worried I'd be proud," Jack says.

"Give me the phone," she says taking it, "Teal'c, can you give Nate the phone?" There is a pause which Jack uses to pay the bill, and they both head for his truck. "Hey, Nate calm down sweetie, your Dad and I are coming, ok?"

"Sam? I thought Teal'c called Daddy," a tiny still upset voice, but clearly breathing says.

Crap.

"Right, Teal'c did call Daddy. Daddy called me," she covers, "He's going to pick me up, and then we'll be there to see you. But you have to calm down."

"Is Daddy still alive?" Nate asks sniffing.

"Yeah, of course he is. He's fine," she says. Holding the phone for Jack who is by now driving.

"Hi Buddy," Jack says.

"He's not sick is he?" Nate asks.

"No, he's fine," Sam says.

"Are you sick, Sam?" he asks.

"No, we're both fine," she says.

"Meteor, pooped," Nate proclaims with a giggle.

"In the house?" Sam asks.

Sam hears a sound which can only be a child nodding against the phone, "Teal'c tripped in it."

"Ok, Nate, we're almost there. Can you go give Teal'c a hug and tell him you're sorry?"

More friction against the phone which indicated nodding. Then she hears the phone being dropped and a muffled apology. Teal'c picks up the phone, "MajorCarter it is no longer necessary for you to abbreviate your meal."

"We're a block out, Teal'c," she says.

Nate is in his father's arms first, but he is passed between Jack and Sam a few times before he was completely calm.

Jack pulls Teal'c into the other room, "Sorry buddy, I really thought he'd be ok."

"Your canine is untrained," Teal'c says making his eyebrow look scornful.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Jack says.

"I hate to see young NathavinO'Neill in distress," Teal'c says.

"You and me both," Jack says with a heavy sigh, "Hopefully it will get better."

When they went back into the living room Sam was rocking him.

"I attempted a similar procedure with young NathavainO'Neill," Teal'c says.

"But you aren't Sam," Nate says reaching his arm around her neck.

"Oh, you noticed that did you?" Jack says.

"Sam, why are you wearing your Pete face?" Nate asks.

"What?" she asks completely confused.

He rubs his finger across her eye shadow, "You wearing the face you use when Pete comes over," he says with a slight accusation in his voice.

"Honey, I told you Pete wouldn't be coming back," she says softly, "Sometimes, I am going to wear this kind of make-up, that is what this face is called. I'll usually do it when you're not around."

"Who you wear that face for now?" he asks sleepily.

"Someday I'll tell you," she says. He accepts this, leans against her, and falls asleep.

"I shall return to the base," Teal'c says.

"Mind giving me a ride?" Sam asks. Teal'c shakes his head.

"Sorry this uh…night didn't turn out quite like we expected," Jack says.

"Hey, we've always got next time," Sam says, "I've got tomorrow off, do you want to meet up tomorrow?"

"Sure, maybe hit up the library?" Jack asks.

"Sounds good," Sam says. "And we have our Thursday appointment, might be good if we all went," she says testing Jack's reaction. He nods his head, but he definitely doesn't look thrilled about the prospect. They both stand very carefully and Sam tries to transfer Nate to Jack. Nate has a death grip on her neck. Jack tries to pry the hands lose, but Nate wakes up with such a whimpering sound that it breaks all of the adult's hearts.

"Um…what are we going to do Jack?" Sam asks.

"It appears, MajorCarter, your choices are limited to waking young NathavinO'Neill and enduring his protest of discomfort, or remaining at O'Neill's house for the night," Teal'c says, with a genuine, full out human grin at his friend's expense.

"Can I borrow some pajamas Jack?" Sam asks.

"Look at this, looks like I got Sam to stay over after half a date," he teases.

"Don't be so conceited Jack, I'll be sleeping with your son," she says with a laugh.

"Well if that don't hurt a guys self-esteem I don't know what will," Jack says, "The guest room has clean sheets. I'll get you pajamas and a tooth brush and what not," he says.

"Thanks," Sam says.

"Goodnight," Teal'c says still laughing.

"You're mighty smug for someone who fell in dog poop tonight," Jack says.

When Jack enters his spare bedroom a few minutes later Sam is laying on the bed with Nate beside her. She tries to get up, but he clings tighter whimpering.

"Hey, Buddy, Sam's just going to get ready for bed ok? I'll stay with you while she does that, ok?" Jack asks.

Nate nods, and Sam gets up. The death grip Nate had on Sam transfers to Jack. When Sam returns to the bathroom Jack gives Nate a kiss on the forehead and gets up to leave.

"Daddy," Nate says so pitifully both hearts are broken. "Sweetie, I'm going to go to bed. You can stay with Sam tonight."

"Daddy, stay with us," he says folding into his father.

"Stay, Jack," Sam says.

"Ok, I'll go get ready for bed, I'll be right back," Jack says.

By the time he returns Nate is already asleep. Jack thinks Sam is asleep too, and is just about to head to his own bedroom when Sam smiles at him, "Jack," she says reaching out her hand.

"I bet this is not how you thought this night would end," he says lying down on the other side of Nate.

She reaches her hand around the kid, and takes his hand, "Holding hands is almost as good as a goodnight kiss, and I have a pretty good snuggler here." He takes her hand with a grin, she pauses, "Jack, do you think he freaked out, because I went on a mission? This one, and the time I tried to rescue you, but ended up needing you to rescue me from Fifth are the only missions I've been on."

"You can't feel guilty about it, and the holding his breath thing is new?" he asks.

"New, and terrifying," she responds with a sigh.

"Is he going to be alright?" Jack asks looking at the kid.

She closes her eyes, "I wish I knew."

* * *

As Sam wakes up she feels breathing on her face. She opens her eyes in an effort to determine exactly who the breath is coming from, and finds herself staring into the face of her commanding officer. It takes her a second to realize that he isn't her commanding officer anymore, and that there is a small child between them. There is, however, a lot less room between them than there was when they fell asleep. In their sleep, they had scooted so close together they must be crushing the boy. She scoots away. The boy clings to her desperately in his sleep as if he's trying to pull her back.

Jack opens up an eye, "Probably the first time that kid's felt secure in a while," he mutters.

Sam moves closer again, and Jack puts an arm around her pulling her even closer. Sam feels her heart grow warm with the three of them lying like this.

"Sorry my kid kind of ruined our date," Jack whispers.

Sam smiles, "This is better. I mean dating is all about figuring out if this is the person you want to spend forever with, and this is giving me more information than dinner ever would."

"I don't know, it was a pretty informative dinner," he says with a smirk.

She reaches up to run her fingers through the gray hair by his temples. Something she's wanted to do for a very long time.

"Sam?" a tentative voice asks.

"Hey buddy," Jack says.

"You ok?" Nate asks.

"We're both fine," Sam says.

"This is a nice way to wake up," Nate says.

"You got that right," Jack says kissing the top of his son's head, but looking at Sam.

As they arrive at the library Sam looks longingly at the stairs which lead to the adult section. "Jack, I'm going to check out the astrophysics section, see if there is anything new."

"Right, we'll start down in the kids section," he says hosting the boy up.

Nate runs his finger across some books, and selects one with a cabin on it. Jack grins. He opens it up "I l-o-v-e lovie?" Nate asks.

Jack turns open mouthed. "Are you reading?" he asks his son bending down.

"I don't get this word 'lovie'?" he asks.

"Love, e's at the end of words are silent," he says.

"Oh," Nate says looking back at the book, "you fe p-ur-p-l-e-st purplest?" he asks. When Jack nods Nate giggles.

"You can read?" Jack asks pulling the kid on to his lap.

Nate nods.

"Wow!" Jack says.

"Can't you read Daddy?" he asks confused.

"Yes, I can read, but I'm not a little kid," Jack says.

"I don't remember not reading," Nate says confused.

"Well, it's great, Buddy. Keep reading I think I'm going to like this book," Jack says settling down, and pulling his son onto his lap.

Sam comes down a half hour later holding a few books.

"Find anything good?" Jack asks. Nate is adding to his small pile of books to check out.

"Actually Jack, I found some books I thought you might like," she says.

"Ah, so you figured since we're…" he glances at Nate, "spending more time together you can in doctorate me into the nerdy science way of life?"

"Figured I could at least give it a good try," she says handing him a copy of _Astrophysics for Dummies_ and _A Brief History of Time_.

"Read them Sam," he replies with a grin, "You were the one who told Daniel my telescope was not just there to look at the neighbors."

She gives him a look of surprise, "Ok, so exactly how much do you know about astrophysics?"

"Not nearly as much as you, but there is one book on the subject I would really like to read. You wrote a book when we had those bracelet things right?" he asks.

"Yeah, I mean I can't publish it until certain things become declassified," she says.

"But you still have it right? I'd love to read it," he says.

"You are a man full of pleasant surprises," she says.

"Speaking of pleasant surprises," he says, "Nate buddy can you read for Samantha?"

She shakes her head and laughs. But Nate brings her a book from the shelf, "Where fe w-i-l-d wild f-i-n-g-s fings are," he says.

"Cute, you had him memorize a book, Jack," she says.

"Nope, Sam, you pick the next one," Jack says.

"Seriously?" she asks. She runs her finger along the low bookshelves until she selects a brightly colored book about the solar system. Nate sits down on her lap, and reads it to her. Jack laughs as he watches her eyes get bigger and bigger.

"Nate you can read!" she exclaims hugging him tight.

"Not sure why everyone is so amazed," he says calmly adding the book to his stack and going back to pick out books.

* * *

The psychologist appointment goes well. When Nate is done talking to her Jack asks him to go wait in the hall for a bit while Sam and he have a chat with the doctor.

"So you are the father that was missing in action? I'm glad to see you made it home safely," Dr. Hanis says warmly.

"Yes, I wish I could have been here when Nate arrived. Well, actually, I wished I would have known about him the second he arrived in the world," Jack says.

"I heard you distrust psychologists," the woman says.

Jack turns to Sam, "You didn't say that in front of Nate did you?"

"Of course not!" she exclaims.

"I don't distrust psychologists. I hate people who hurt my friends, and a certain psychologist did that once," Jack exclaims.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the woman says.

"Nate held his breath until he passed out last night," Jack says, "He wanted Sam. He'd just had a nightmare."

"I'd just been gone on a three day trip. Since Jack is back, I've returned to work, including out of country trips" and she says it with her head down and shame in her voice.

"Sam you did nothing wrong. Nate was fine with me, and you still see him all the time," Jack says trying desperate to make her guilt disappear.

"Yes, Nate said you are sharing him," the psychologist says.

Jack smiles, "Well, he's very attached to Sam. And frankly, she's just as attached to him. We think it's best for everyone. He's been spending a little more time with me lately since…well, since I've retired. But he still spends Sam's off days with Sam, and sleeps at her house a few nights a week when she's on…in the country I mean."

"I think it's a remarkable plan. I wish every family I worked with put the kid in front of their own wants as much as you two do. Nate is a lucky boy," she says, "he couldn't stop talking about how much he loves his new Dad, and how much he likes the new plan you two have gotten worked up. He, however, did not like being left with the babysitter," she says with a sigh.

Jack plops down in the chair, "I know. I guess we shouldn't have done that. But I really thought it was what was best for him. I mean I'm willing to have one of us with him all the time, but that just seems like…I mean if it's going to go away by itself great. But if he's going to be like that forever…I can't box him in like that."

"No, it wouldn't be right to let him stay with one of you forever. You're absolutely right Colonel O'Neill. Separation anxiety does not go away by itself. How long was he with the babysitter?" she asks.

"Two hours," Sam says.

"Ok, so two hours before extreme panic," the psychologist says.

"It was triggered by a nightmare," Jack adds.

"I think you should start with about an hour a half, a time period we know he can handle. You have some reward at the end if he does a good job. Something with you. An hour of snuggling and television and reading or a game of catch. Something like that. You wait until he does it ten times without panic, and then you increase it by fifteen minutes. You should try every three days for awhile. Do you have someone you can leave him with that often?"

"Yeah, we've got two really great friends that would do anything for that kid," Jack says.

"General Hammond too, Jack," Sam says looking at him.

Jack grins, "Really?"

"The man has two granddaughters. Are you seriously surprised?" Sam asks.

"I guess not," Jack says. He takes a deep breath, "There is probably something else we should tell you. Sam and I have started dating. That's actually where we were last night. Not that…I mean the real reason we were leaving was for Nate to get used to it. We never would have gone if we knew it was going to cause a panic attack. I mean it's not like we're putting ourselves in front of…" he keeps blabbering until Sam lays a hand on his arm.

The psychologist smiles, "A lot of single parents feel guilty about dating. Frankly, some of them should. But if the child is well cared for and secure throughout the process, parents deserve to be happy too. My only concern is, especially in this case, where Nate already loves Sam, he could be crushed if things did not work out."

"We haven't told Nate," Sam says, "And if things didn't work out we'd still be sharing him. I'm not going to be leaving his life either way."

"And I'm reasonably sure that's not going to be an issue," Jack says smiling at Sam.

She smiles back, "But Nate isn't going to know anything until we're both 100% positive that this is going to be forever and for always."

The psychologist grins, "Like I said, Nate is really lucky he has you."


	5. Missing

Thanks again to Bruised Reed.

Thanks to so many reviewers loving Meteor we get to see more of this unique dog in this next couple chapters.

Jack bites his lip and looks at his son. Crap, this is going to be hard to explain. Their jobs really hadn't seemed this dangerous. Not when he was the one doing them. Not when he was right there next to his team. It was a lot harder to sit at home. It had to be even harder if you are not quite four years old.

"Sam, why don't you let me talk to him for a second, and then I'll put you on. I mean do you have time?" he asks suddenly worried, "I mean they probably need you to help with this weird alien disease. You should probably be sitting with Daniel."

"Teal'c's sitting with Daniel. And I always have time for Nate," she replies.

Nate is launching planes from a sling-shot like toy, and Jack sits down on the floor next to him. "Buddy, Sam is fine. But you're not going to be able to go to her house tonight. She is stuck at work. Some people, not Sam, got sick, and they locked the place up. No one can go home until they figure out what it is. Uncle Danny is one of the people sick, but it looks like he is getting better. Everything is going to be fine, and Sam isn't sick. Ok?"

Nate nods his head bravely, even though he actually looks pretty worried.

"She wants to talk to you, is that ok?" Jack asks.

Nate snatches the phone from his hands, "Sam, I miss you," he says. Jack watches carefully for signs of a panic attack. The only sign he sees is the deep breathing and fist clenching and unclenching which are both techniques he was taught to avoid a panic attack. His son has come so far.

"Want to sit on my lap buddy?" he asks and Nate nods. Jack holds his son for the half hour phone conversation, and after, until at last the child falls asleep on his lap.

* * *

It wasn't as simple as an alien virus this time. It was Anubis himself. Of course Jack's security clearance had changed, so he wasn't actually cleared to know that Anubis had been inside of Daniel. Lack of security clearance could get quite obnoxious. Good things his friends really didn't care about security clearance.

"Is Daniel all right?" Jack asks.

"Yes, he's going to be just fine," Sam assures him.

"And Anubis?" Jack asks.

"Sent to a very cold planet. I don't think he's going to be bothering us anytime soon," Sam says.

"Nice work Major," he says.

"Is it ok if I come over tonight Jack?" she asks

"You are always welcome Sam. I missed you almost as much as the kid did," he says honestly.

"Great, now I have to deal with two people with separation anxiety," she says.

"Sam, I thought you would want to come over here tonight. I kind of have an after-Nate-falls-asleep date set up."

"That sounds amazing. You can tell Nate I'll be there in about an hour, I just want to stop at home first," she says.

"Will do," he says.

* * *

When the doorbell rings an hour later Nate is already fed and bathed. It's earlier than the bedtime routine usually begins, but Jack correctly guessed the reading and cuddling before bed was going to take longer than it usually did. Sam made quite a fuss over the fact that Nate hadn't had a single panic attack in all the days that she was overdue.

Nate is safely sleeping in bed, and Jack and Sam are a half hour into her date when Sam looks up at Jack and says, "I'm relieved that you're still…you."

He laughs, "Who exactly did you expect me to become?" he asks.

"Well," she says carefully, "I don't know. The way people are when you date people is often different than the way people really are. You know, they put on this fake personality. And…I was a little scared that dating you wouldn't be what I thought it would be, like when Fifth…" she stops in horror. She hadn't meant to tell him that.

"What exactly did Fifth do to you?" he asks concerned.

"Well at first it was your typical torture stuff. Then…replicators can enter your mind and create a very believable delusion," she says.

"And Fifth…" he prompts.

"Fifth pretended to be you. There was the cabin, and peace and quiet, and Nate calling me Mom. It…wasn't real," she murmurs looking away.

"It could be," he says smiling.

"Jack this is our second date," she protests.

"Nope, you have to count all the outings with the kid," he says.

"Ok, then like our sixth date," she considers.

"Also have to count all our team nights and off world dinners," Jack adds.

Sam rolls her eyes.

"Seven years, Samantha," he says.

She smiles at him, "we do know each other very well. Even more so now that I know you like astrophysics," she says with a mocking grin.

"Speaking of which I loved your book," he says, "But I still don't get why wormholes are one way. I read that part like six times, and it didn't make it through this thick skull."

The fork stays suspended half way between her mouth and the plate, "Are you telling me you did understand the rest of the book?" she asks in shock.

"I think so," he says looking at her and letting doubt cover his face. But after she's asked him six or seven questions she is quite certain he really does understand the book save that one part. So she begins to explain it to him.

After dinner he starts to clean up the dishes, but she stops him with a kiss. The kiss, much to both of their disappointment is stopped before too long as well. It's stopped by a shriek.

"Go Jack, I'm not supposed to still be here," Sam says.

Jack runs into his son's room, but as soon as he sees the boy's face he knows that he's going to need Sam to end this one.

"What's wrong?" Jack asks Nate.

"Sam is sick," his son says looking at him with absolute certainty.

"No, she's not sick. She's absolutely fine. You saw her just a few hours ago. You are just having a bad dream, "he says soothingly rubbing his son's back.

His son shakes his head, "No, she's sick. Fe sickness from work got her, and she's going to die," he says sobbing.

"No, no one is sick at work anymore," Jack says holding the boy close to his heart, "and Sam is fine. You know what, she's still here. She hadn't eaten yet, so I said I had to feed her before she left. We'll go talk to her."

Sam's eyes grow wide when she sees Jack carry Nate into the room.

"See, healthy," Jack says smiling apologetically at Sam.

"Bad dream?" she asks taking Nate into her arms, and rocking him.

"Sam," he says holding her close.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"You should stay here forever," Nate says with certainly.

"I don't think so, baby," she says holding Nate close to her. She looks up at Jack and is surprised to see a pleased and surprised expression on his face.

When she lays Nate down again, after he has fallen back asleep she returns to the living room.

"I had a nice date, short though it was, thanks for coming Sam," he says.

She smiles, "Do I have to go," she asks leaning toward him.

"No, it is late, you've been locked on base for a few days, and I do have a spare room. In fact if you wanted you could stay forever just as my son suggested," he says looking at her with something she thinks is longing in his face.

"How about if I stay the night, but maybe not in the guest room," she says moving even more suggestively close.

"Sam, this is our second date," he protests.

"I thought we'd established we've had seven years of dates, and waiting, and interruptions," she says kissing him.

"You win," he mutters into her mouth before returning the kiss.

* * *

That morning, over a week ago now, when Jack woke up next to Sam with a three and half year old between them he had decided it was the most amazing way to wake up that had ever been imagined. This morning he decided he'd found a much better one-waking up next to Sam and no three and a half year old between them.

She turns her eyes toward him, feeling that he is looking at her.

"Good morning," he says.

"Not as good as last night," she replies.

"Sam…what Nate proposed probably isn't a bad plan. You could come live with us. In the spare bedroom most of the time, in here when you felt like it. He would have one set of clothes and toys. You'd be with us whenever you weren't off world. We'd get to spend more time together. Dates would be easier to squeeze in. I live closer to the base than you do," he says.

"I'm not moving in with you, because your son had a nightmare, Jack," she says.

"Then how about because," he pauses, "I love you, Sam."

She grins, "That's a much better reason, but it doesn't sound like we're going to need the spare bedroom then."

"It's too soon to ask you…I mean…Sam," he stammers.

"You're right, for Nate's sake alone we should probably go with the whole staying in the spare bedroom just doing it for the sake of the kid, act. But as long as we both know it's because," she whispers, "I love you, too."

"You don't want to lose your place," he says.

"I like yours better, better company. But if you weren't serious…" she says suddenly losing confidence.

"I'd love to have you Sam," he says pulling him close to him.

"Dad," Nate's voice drifts down the hallway from his room.

"Crap!" Jack exclaims, "Just a minute buddy. I'll be right there," he says pulling on his clothes.

* * *

Seven long years have taught Jack to fear and dread the number of the SGC on his phone, but it had never caused terror like this to fill his heart before.

"O'Neil?" its Walter's voice.

Nate is in the room so he can't panic. "Everything ok, Sergeant?"

"SG-1 was kidnapped," Walter says.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asks.

"I'm afraid not. We're doing everything I can. I'll let you know a soon as there is word," Walter says.

Jack stares at the phone until he gets his composure. Then he turns to his son, "Sam isn't going to be coming over tonight."

He sees terror in his son's eyes. "Where is she? Can I talk to her?"

Jack closes his eyes. He finally understands what he put Sarah through. He wishes he could go back to all of those arguments he had with her and redo them knowing what this terror was like.

"She's still on the other side of the gate. Nate, these things happen. We've been stuck off world a lot of times. I was stuck off world for four months with your mother. Sam is only a few hours late, it is going to be ok," he says picking up his son.

"I want Sam home NOW," Nate sniffs.

Meteor positions himself between father and son. He gives Jack a look that implies Meteor doesn't think much of Jack upsetting Nate.

"I know that Buddy. I'm right there with you. I want Sam home too. But, you're brave. You're going to be brave so when Sam comes home she'll be very, very proud of you," and Jack lifts his son over the dogs back, to hold him close.

* * *

When Sam finally does come back, two days later and much the worse for the wear, Jack and Nate are waiting for her in the parking lot.

He runs to her sobbing, and she sits down holding him and rocking him. Jack comes over and offers her a wobbly smile.

"Glad you made it home, Major," he says.

"Thanks, We weren't kidnapped. We got stuck underground, Sir…" she begins.

"Not sir," he interrupts, "You weren't under my command anymore, Sam. And from what I heard you did a damn fine job of this command," he says nodding.

"Thanks, Jack. And I just heard that I might be getting a promotion. Seems my commanding officer put me up for it before he retired," Sam says.

"Great Sam! You deserve it!" he says with a smile, "and just before I retired was not the only time I put you up for a promotion. We should go celebrate. I think maybe we should take one car," he says indicating Nate still clutching her desperately.

"I think you should drive, and I'll sit in the backseat," Sam says picking Nate up and carrying him toward Jack's truck.

"I'm glad you're ok," Jack says giving her a hug.

"Sam, you have got to see what Meteor can do!" Nate explains as soon as she arrives home.

"Did you really teach him to play 'Red Light Green Light'?" she asks, but it still sounds like she's doubting him.

"Not yet, but I will," and he does the two fingered point that he usually reserves for off world directions, "This is better."  
"Meteor, a cold one," Nate commands.

The dog walks over to the fridge, nuzzles it open, grabs a beer and brings it back. He looks from Sam to Jack, and then places the offering at Sam's feet.

Jack turns to her grinning. "Good boy, Meteor!" he exclaims. The dog wags its tail.

"You taught the dog to open the fridge?" Sam asks.

"In hindsight, that wasn't the best plan. We have a new rule vegetables and fruits only on the lower two shelves," Jack says.

"Meteor threw up on everything!" Nate exclaims like it was his own accomplishment.

"The up side is I made a pot roast," Jack says.

"The down side is Meteor eated it," Nate says by way of well rehearsed lines.

"Fabulous, Jack, the whole thing?" she asks.

"Pretty much," he says with a grin, "He's going to be offended if you don't drink your beer Sam.

She picks it up and twists the cap, "So since he brought it to me does this mean I'm his favorite?"

"Meteor, a cold one," Jack commands.

The dog retrieves another which he also places at Sam's feet.

"Either that dog has good taste or he's trying to turn you into an alcoholic," Jack says.

"Good boy Meteor," she says giving the dog a pat as she picks up the beer and hands it to Jack.


	6. Family

Thanks again to my beta Bruised Reed.

Sam plops down in her chair, "You think as an Air Force brat I'd be used to that by now," she says.

"Moving is a lot of work," Jack says sitting down next to her, and lacing his fingers through her own.

"It would be a lot more work if it wasn't for you. You've been amazing," she says with a smile, "You pack things up when I'm at work. You shove your prized possessions out of the way to make room for my junk. You talk to realtors about my house…"

"I behave like any man lucky enough to have a beautiful woman receive some strange head injury that makes her think she likes him," he says.

"Loves him," Sam corrects kissing him.

"Why are you guys kissing?" Nate's small voice asks.

"Uh, Nate, come here," his Dad says holding out his hands.

Nate looks from one to the other as he crawls into the spot on the couch between them. He wiggles his tiny body back and forth until he has wedged himself a spot where none existed mere moments before. Sam finds herself hoping his separating them isn't symbolic.

"Sweetheart," she begins taking a breath, "You know that your father and I love you very much," she says, and Nate nods, "Well your father and I love each other as well."

"So why are you kissing?" he asks.

"Adults kiss each other like that when they are in love, a certain kind of love," Jack tries.

"So you're going to get married?" Nate says hopefully.

"We haven't talked about marriage yet," Sam says quickly.

Nate's face falls almost to the ground. "Buddy," Jack says raising his son's face with his hand on his jaw, "That doesn't mean we aren't going to get married. In fact, I'll tell you right now there is a good chance we might decide to get married. But it might not be for a while. See, before we do that we want to get to know each other a little better, and be a million percent certain that we are going to be together forever."

"You're not going to be together forever?" Nate says concerned.

"I'm always going to be there for you," Sam says.

"I still fink you should get married," Nate proclaims.

"I'll take that under advisement," Jack says.

Sam gives him a strange look.

* * *

Sam opens the door to its ringing, and stops dead in her tracks when she sees Sarah standing there.

"Sarah," she says in surprise.

"I'm sorry, do I know you? I thought this was Jack's house," Sarah says obviously confused. Sam notices how sad she looks, and worry twists in her stomach wondering what is wrong.

"We met once years ago. I'm not surprised you don't remember me. This is Jack's house, I'll go get him," she says with a smile.

Jack walks by then, with Nate over a shoulder giggling.

"Sarah," he says. Sam takes Nate out of Jack's hands. "God, is it the seventeenth?"

Sarah nods, "I shouldn't have come. It's just you were always there…I was worried when you didn't show up."

Jack's eyes cloud over, "I didn't even…God, how could I forget?"

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Nate says reaching out.

"I'm fine, Nate," he says with a smile.

"Sam, would you be ok if I left for a bit?" he asks her. She nods. "Sarah, I don't know if you wanted to…I mean I know you were already…but we should probably talk."

Sarah nods. Jack leans in so Nate can give him a kiss on his cheek before he grabs his keys and walks out the door.

"So," she says as they sit in his truck, driving together to their son's grave "He called you Daddy?"

"Yeah, that's my son," Jack says.

"He's a cute kid," she says.

Jack nods an acknowledgment.

"How old is he?" Sarah asks.

"He's three and a half. But…I just found out about him a month and a half ago. I should have told you sooner. I'm…you shouldn't have found out like that…not today."

"It's ok, Jack, it looks like you have a lot on your plate. So…why did she keep you from him?" she asks.

"Sam isn't his mother," Jack says. He lets that hang in the air. "I met Nate's mother when on a mission. I was missing in action for four months. For three months I pouted, for one month I fell in love with Nate's mother. When I got rescued she didn't want to live with me in America, and I didn't want to keep living with her there. I should have gone back, I guess."

"She should have told you," Sarah said earnestly.

"I guess, she looked me up when…when she was dying. I was gone again, missing in action again. Sam took him in. Took care of him for two months until I came back."

"So Sam is…what?" he asks.

"We're dating…now. We couldn't before. Military. But…I retired," he says.

Sarah looks at him surprised.

"Not the first time," he says.

"No, but you…ok? Last time you retired…" Sarah begins.

"Retiring for a dead son and an alive one is pretty different. I can't believe…I can't believe I forgot the day," he say wracked with guilt.

"It's ok to move on," she says.

"I haven't forgotten Charlie," he says, "I just lost the day."

"It would be ok if you forgot him," she says.

"No," he repeats.

"Sarah, Sam's Air Force. I never understood. I mean I thought I understood why you used to get so mad when I was on missions, but I didn't have a clue. I'm sorry for all the hell I put you through," he says, "I said I was sorry a lot, and I meant it. But I never meant it as much as I meant it this time."

"Jack," she says softly.

"I'm also sorry," he pauses, "I finally am who you wanted me to be. Out of the Air Force with a kid. And I'm not with you."

"I never should have tried to change you. When I married you, you were what you were, and I loved you for it. When didn't run into trouble until I started to make you be someone else," she says, "And I've got someone else now too."

"Really? Good," he says with a genuine smile.

"We actually got engaged. I was going to tell you today," she says.

"Congratulations," he says."Sarah, I also want you to know. They think a medical treatment I took for my knees may have affected my ability to have kids. I mean…I just wanted you to know that before…it wasn't just you," he says.

"Thanks Jack," she says, "so what is Nate like?"

"I don't want to talk about him on Charlie's day," Jack says.

"Ok, well I'm happy for you," she says.

"You too," he says as they pull up in front of the graveyard. Jack runs his finger over the engraved letters on the tombstone. The heartache is almost enough to kill him, but it hurts less today than ever before. He hates himself a little bit for that.

* * *

They are in the middle of a day off. A relaxing thing that took place mostly in the back yard.

"Dad!" Sam exclaims in response to her ringing phone, "When did you get in?" There is a pause, "Actually, no, that's correct. I did sell my house. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. No…Uh, actually I live at Jack's house." There is a pause that causes Jack to turn to her in concern, "No…no…Dad, maybe someday. Dad, do you need directions? Of course, you can still come over. No, it's not just Jack's place. It's our place. Yeah, Nate's here," she rolls her eyes in a way that makes Jack wish he could hear Jacob's end of the conversation. "Dad, you can come over or not, it's…How do you already know where Jack lives? Ok, see you soon."

"Everything ok, Sam?" he asks looking at her.

She giggles, "Dad's coming over."

"Heard that, how did he know where I lived?"Jack asks.

"He said it's a father's duty to know where his daughter's boyfriend lives," she says with a giggle.

Jack laughs, "How did he even know we were dating?"

"Just because he's on a different planet doesn't mean I don't talk to him," she says.

"Should I be scared?" He asks.

She looks him up and down, "I think you could take him, Jack."

* * *

Jack and Jacob are sitting on the patio drinking, "cold ones" retrieved by the dog watching as Sam and Nate play "red light green light" with Meteor. It's a game which he only plays under the direction of Sam. As much as she isn't a dog person, it turns out she is a Meteor person. And Meteor is definitely a Samantha dog.

"How long you been living with my daughter?" Jacob says

"She has her own room, Jacob," Jack says.

"Yeah," Jacob responds dubiously, "So how long have you been living with my daughter?"

"A month," Jack says.

"You make a good family," Jacob says.

"This is not quite how I expected you to react," Jack says giving Jacob a sidelong look.

"I want Sammy to be happy. It's what I always wanted. I tried to push her to be an astronaut, because I thought she'd be happy. I used to try to tell yes or no on high school boyfriends. But everyone I discouraged she dated for months, and anyone I approved of she dropped like he was poisoned. I learned a long time ago that I'm better off letting Sammy find her own happiness."

"She respects your opinion a lot more than you think she does," Jack says.

"My point is I want her happy. And I look at that," he says gesturing to where Sam and Nate are rolling a ball, "Happiest I've seen her in a long time. I just hope…are you going to keep her happy?"

"I'm sure going to try," Jack says.

"Of course, if you did hurt her I would have to kill you," Jacob says without even looking up.

"I'd want you to, sir," Jack says.

"You going to get married? Give me more grandkids?" Jacob asks

Jacob chokes in surprise. "We're pretty new sir, but…there are some plans about that first one."

"Really!" Jacob says.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sam asks from a ways away.

"Nothing!" Both of her men exclaim.

"We should not leave those two alone," Sam says to Nate.

Nate obediently crawls onto Jacob's lap.

"I missed you," Jacob says, "I don't get to see my Grandkids enough."

Sam looks at her dad with love at the sound of that word.

Nate wraps his arms around Jacob's neck. "He's a charmer isn't he?" Jack asks.

"What does that mean?" Nate asks pulling his head back.

"It means we think you're pretty great," Sam says with a smile.

"Grandpa Jacob, they were worried you weren't going to like it that Sam is living with us, how come?" Nate asks looking up at him.

Jacob rubs his back, "Some fathers like their daughters to live alone. I however, like my daughter's family."

"Family," Nate repeats sleepily, and for the entirety of his nap Jacob holds him close.

* * *

The house is silent when Sam returns from a mission a month later. Jack is almost always waiting for her when she returns from a mission. Sitting there waiting for her, and worrying, trying to pretend he isn't worrying. Granted she came home late this time, after midnight. But it had never mattered before.

Meteor emerges from Nate's room gives her a wag of the tail before he goes back to guard his charge.

"That is how you greet someone," she mutters glaring at the dark bedroom.

Then she spies a note on the table. She grins as she picks it up.

""When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew. " William Shakespeare _Hamlet, _Act _II, Scene II. Your next clue will be found where you see that smile every day before you leave._

_ She walks to the mirror by the doorway to the house, the mirror that she glances in as the very last thing she does before leaving the house. Something she never would have even guessed Jack noticed. There is a note there which says:_

"She is a mortal danger to all men. She is beautiful without knowing it, and possesses charms that she's not even aware of. She is like a trap set by nature." Cyrano de Bergerac

_ Your next quote will be found in my favorite book."_

_ She stood grinning at the note for a time. She knew that Jack's undergraduate degree (the one that he'd entered the Air Force to pay for, back before he fell in love with flight and adventure) was in literature. But Jack had never once acted like a literature major before._

_ She walked to the bookshelf and drew off her own book. Of course, it wasn't bound, just a computer printout. But he'd often said her writing was his favorite book. She took it down and opened it finding his next note._

_ "_You are my heart, my life, my one and only thought." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The White Company. Your next clue will be found behind the picture of those I love the best.

She debated this for a second or two standing before the family pictures. But then her eye caught on one that had his team as well as her and Nate. She flipped it over to find the next note.

"G_enerally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand_." –_The Velveteen Rabbit_ by Margery Williams. Your next clue will be found in the place where this old rabbit exercises his loose joints.

She ran down the stairs into the basement where she found a note taped on the treadmill.

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." Loa Tzu Toa Te Ching Where do you keep the letters to those who give you courage?

She smiled, not really surprised that he knows this even though she's never told him. She opens her laptop and sees the word "fishing" what should have been her top secret password. She grins at him knowing that. She opens the note, and finds a ring taped to the note.

Come, let's be a comfortable couple and take care of each other! How glad we shall be, that we have somebody we are fond of always, to talk to and sit with. ~Charles Dickens

"Jack," she says crawling into the bed next to him, not at all surprised to find him still awake.

"Solved the puzzles already? I should have made them harder," he says.

"Jack those quotes…they were great, it was like a window into your heart. I never knew…" she says.

"Not going to use them as blackmail are you, Sam? You know Plato said at a touch of love all men become poets," he asks half jokingly and halfway with true nervousness.

"Not a chance, Jack," she says, "And my answer is of course I'll marry you. I just wish I could say yes as well as you asked. I…I want to tell you how much you mean to me. But I'm a scientist Jack. I can't do the fancy word thing."

He holds her close, "Hey, I know you love me."

"Jack, it's like…like reading your report on a wormhole, and combining it with all I'd learned about wormhole physics. And I thought I knew it was exactly what the wormhole as going to be like-I knew it was going to be amazing and powerful, and world altering. But then I saw it, and touched it, and it was so much better. You're like that, love turned out to be like that. So much better than I thought."

"I'm as beautiful as a wormhole," he says teasingly.

She chooses to ignore it, and switches the subject, "And you did a great job on the ring," she says holding her hand so she can see it.

"So we're getting married," he says.

"Yes," she says kissing him.

"Sweet," he mutters returning the kiss.

"Jack I want to read your book," she says.

"What?" he says, but she can tell she's caught him well and truly off guard. Not something she can do often, because he really seems to read her mind.

"Come on, you're a lit major, and those quotes, I can almost guarantee you've written a book," she says.

"You know what they say about assumptions, Major," he says.

"I bet it's a western," she teases, "Sci-fi?" she guesses. "I know romance; you certainly have the skills for that one."

"Modern myth," he mutters, "and I'll let you read them if the teasing stops."

She grins, "Them?"

"Yep, the idiotically idealized one I wrote in college, and the depressing thing I turned out in the year after…" he starts.

"Charlie," she says putting a hand on his shoulder, "You don't have to show them to me. I mean if they are too personal…"

"The really great thing about this relationship, Sam, is I don't have to hide things from you."

* * *

"Daddy!" Nate's scream awakens them all in the middle of the night. Jack sits bolt upright in his bed. Nate runs into his room, "Sam is gone!" he stops. "Sam?" he asks in surprise seeing her in bed next to his father. They have been living together for almost two months now, but when Sam stays in Jack's room, she always goes back to her own bed before Nate wakes up.

"It's ok, Bud," Sam says patting the bed between them. That is all the invitation Nate needs to jump up between them. Meteor, who keeps careful track of Nate, particularly at night, jumps up on the bed too.

"She didn't mean you," Jack says shoving him off.

"You weren't in your bed," Nate says accusingly burying himself into Sam's side.

"No, sorry babe. But I was right here, and I was safe," she says rubbing her hand gently over his hair.

"Did you have a bad dream too?" Nate asks beginning to fiddle with Sam's new ring absently.

Sam looks at Jack with panic in her eyes.

He moves closer, "Remember how we talked about Sam and me getting married bud?"

"Yep, I got to wait," he says.

"We decided to get married," Jack says.

"Really!" Nate says hugging them both.

"Yeah," Sam says with a smile.

"So," he is still unconsciously twirling her new ring, "what does it mean?"

"It means forever," Jack says holding onto both of them.

"It means I'll be your step mother," San says.

"Step on what?" he asks.

"It's just what we call someone who marries your Dad, a step-mom," Sam explains.

"So you're going to be my mom now?" Nate asks.

Sam looks at the hope in Nate's face and says, "Yeah, it means I'm going to be your Mom."

Nate holds her really tight.

"It means that we're family," Jack says, "And that after awhile we're going to have a party where Sam and I promise we're going to be together forever in front of people. And Sam and I are going share a bedroom," he adds.

"'Kay," Nate says, "Can I share a room with you too?" he asks.

Jack laughs, "Tell you what? You can stay until you all asleep. Then if one of us is still awake we'll carry you back to your room. If not you can stay here tonight. But not every night. It would get too crowded."

* * *

"Jack!" Sam hollers as she arrives back from work the week after she became engaged. "I got a message from my brother while I was at work. He's coming to visit! I should have predicted this. He always comes for my birthday," she exclaims.

"Birthday! You have a birthday coming and you weren't going to tell me?" he accuses.

"You are missing the point!" she exclaims.

"You worried about where the kids are going to sleep? We could try to sell the whole camping out thing and do sleeping bags on the floor, but it would probably be better if we got an air mattress," Jack says thoughtfully.

"I have an air mattress; you're forgetting my house was only two bedrooms. You're missing the point Mark is an address behind," she says.

He's about to say "so what" when he realizes the implications. He takes a deep breath, "Uh, ok, how far behind is he on the rest of your life?" Jack asks carefully.

"He knows about Nate, and you. I haven't told him about the engagement or…" she begins.

"The fact that we are living together?" he asks, "You know we can just hide my stuff, and I can stay with Daniel until he leaves."

"No," she says grabbing onto him, "No, Jack. It's just…" she takes a deep breath, "there is so much to tell him. They're all going to be meeting Nate for the first time. And I was going to tell him everything…"

"It's only been a week since we got engaged. And if you didn't call them they would have found out soon enough. The wedding invitations will be out before you know it. Are you still sure you only want to wait four months? It's going to make it really fast."

"I wish I only had to wait a week, but the stress of having a big wedding that quickly would probably kill me," she says laughing, "And Jack, he's coming in on a day when I'm working. I got the rest of the time off, but can you pick him up from the airport?"

"Of course! Love to, now are we talking working, or on an alien planet?" he asks.

"Just working," she says.

"Good, I wouldn't want you to get stuck out there and miss your brother," Jack says.

"So…you going to call your brother and tell him where he'll be coming after I pick him up, or is it going to be an awkward conversation at the airport?" He asks.

"Oh, that would be fun to do that to you. Of course it would be a lot more fun if I could actually see you as I do it!" she says with a laugh. Then she takes out her phone, "Yeah, I got your message Mark. Of course I'm always glad to see you! Yeah, that weekend would work well for me. I work on Thursday, but have the rest off with my strange schedule at work. No, I told you sometime I work around the clock on a trip so I get a couple of days off. No, actually deep space telemetry does sometimes require trips. Anyway Jack can pick you up on Thursday. Yeah it is. Yeah, he'll bring Nate with. Nate's doing great. He's started preschool now, and he hasn't had any major problems in a couple of months. No, he's fine. Uh…Mark, I should probably tell you I moved since the last time you were here. Uh, not exactly about a better house for kids, although it is that. I moved in with Jack and Nate." There is a long pause, and Jack moves to sit next to her. "No, I realize that…we're not going to hurt Nate." Jack touches her ring, and she smile, knowing he's right, "Actually Jack and I are getting married. In four months. I was going to wait and tell you in person, it just happened. Yeah. No, Jack and I wouldn't have started living together if we weren't pretty sure it was permanent. Thanks, Mark," she says and Jack holds her tighter. "Ok, I'll see you then," she says handing up the phone.

"How did it go?" he asks.

"Pretty well," she says with a smile.

"So I don't have to hide?" he teases.

"No," she says snuggling in. Nate enters the room and pounces on them causing them all to giggle and for them to think the picture was complete.

* * *

Jack had been a little bit nervous about meeting Mark. After all, from what Sam had told him the man was very anti-military. While he wasn't exactly in the military anymore, he definitely had a military point of view. But Jack decided he liked Mark from the moment the two of them laid eyes upon one another.

Nate was holding up a sign he'd helped Sam make the night before. It said, "Hello Uncle Mark, Auntie Jasmine, Cousin Will and Cousin Emma."

Mark got down on his knee, "You must be Nate," he says.

Nate nods his head shyly. Mark takes him into a hug which involves picking him up. Meanwhile Jasmine shakes hands with Jack, "Nice to meet you," she says pertly.

Jack grins at Mark's kids. Will is eleven and playing a video game as he walks. His sister is eight. She's wearing pink. A lot of pink. A pink dress, leggings, bow, necklace, shoes. Everything.

"Hi sweetie," he says giving her a hug with a pat on the back. He then turns to the boy who he hugs as well.

"You guys can call me Uncle Jack," he says smiling at the kids.

"Welcome to the family," Mark says giving Jack a hug while still holding Nate.

"Thanks, I really appreciate that," Jack says.

When Sam comes home Jack can tell right away that she's exhausted. But she makes a good show of looking like she isn't. He fanes his own exhaustion, before long to ensure that they all get to go to bed nice and early.

This of course makes him all the more nervous when he wakes up to the sound of Sam throwing up. He holds her hair, a difficult task with short hair, while she throws up. Then he rubs her back as he brushes her teeth.

"Too bad you had to be coming down with something right when your brother is here," Jack says.

"Jack, I think I might know why I haven't been feeling my best," she says smiling.

"Oh," he says panicked for a second before he realizes what she meant, "Really?"

"I don't know," she says, "Give me a minute and I'll find out. But don't tell everyone…engaged and living together is enough of a shock for the week."

"Ok, let me know soon," he says fidgeting.

"Just let me pee and you can wait with me," she says pushing him out of the bathroom.

"So how do we feel about this?" she asks him nervously when she lets him back in.

"Excited, maybe?" he asks. "I mean I definitely want more kids. But if you are…you'll be showing for the wedding. Maybe we'll move the wedding up. On the other hand having a baby on the way now will mean I'm not going to be bored when Nate goes to kindergarten. I'm already bored since he doesn't need me to sit outside of his preschool room for those two hours anymore. I guess I want to know how you feel about this, because it would ground you from Gate travel."

She smiles, "I wouldn't mind that. I've been considering stopping gate travel for awhile. Or moving into a more advisory position. It'd be a lot easier on Nate."

"You can't quit your job for Nate," he blurts.

"You did, Jack," she says.

"That's different," she says.

"Because he's not really my kid?" she says.

"Sam, that is not what I meant. He needed someone full time. He doesn't need two people full time. No reason for both of our careers to end," he says.

"No, I don't want to quit, Jack. I might want to do lab work. I don't know yet, but this baby might help make that decision for me. I wouldn't mind showing at my wedding. We're not moving it up. I can't do a wedding in less than four months while pregnant. At least if these last days are any indication of how sick I'm going to be," she says.

He looks guilty.

"Jack more than willing to be sick if it means that I get to have your baby," she says, "Which it looks like I do," she says glancing at the test.

He grins and kisses her.

"Ok, so we'll talk more later," he says.

"Fitting for a wedding dress is going to be a nightmare," she says. He makes a face. "And you can't look guilty about this anymore. I'm glad we're having a baby," she says.

"Anything I can do to make you feel better?" he asks.

"I'm ok," she says. He raises an eyebrow, "I'm going to be ok."

"Eight months from now," he mutters.

"Don't remind me," she says with an exaggerated eye roll.

* * *

The day was great. They went to the zoo, and by the end of it they were starting to feel like family. Jack bought Emma a pink otter. Will offered a lecture on how otters cannot be pink which only ended when Sam found a correctly colored anaconda which he wrapped around his head dramatically trying to convince passersby's he was dying a slow and dramatic death. The adults offered to buy Nate several stuffed animals, but he displayed no interest. It was a magazine that caught Nate's eye.

"Uncle Mark, it's about Big Cats," he says pointing to the title.

Mark glances at the title surprised, "Yeah, I bet you knew that because it has a Tiger on the front."

"No, I knew it, because it says Big Cats," Nate says pointing to the words.

"You can read?" Jasmine asked surprised.

Nate rolls his eyes, "I forgetted that adults get surprised," he says.

Sam grins at him, "Most four year olds can't read you know," she says.

He shrugs.

"Where is he from?" Mark asks.

Sam is silent.

"I mean I know Jack was stranded on a trip for a few months, but where exactly was he stranded?" Mark presses.

"In an area the United States Air Force officially has no presence. A pre industrial agricultural society," Sam says.

"Got it classified, I've been there Sam. But…war zone?" Mark asks quietly.

"No, we were evacuating people from a natural disaster. The disaster is what stranded Jack," she says.

"Ok, good," Mark says smiling.

When they are eating supper that night Sam finds her stomach twirling.

"You ok? Auntie Sam?" Emma asks.

"Fine sweetie," she says putting up a big smile that fools no one.

Then a plate of meat is passed beneath her nose, and she runs out of the room. A worried glance passes around the table. Meteor leaves his usual position by the table to follow Sam. Jack smiles. "Ah, kids why don't you go play in Nate's room. You guys," he indicates the adults "can give me a couple minutes and then come into our room," he says.

"Sammy, are you ok?" he asks.

"Yeah, sick of being nauseous, but felling better," she says.

"I think we've got to tell your family, there worried," he says.

"I know," she says.

"They'll be coming in here soon," he says. She raises an eyebrow, "Just the adults," he adds.

Jasmine knocks on her bedroom door.

"Come on in," Sam says with a smile as she sits on the table.

"Are you ok?" Mark asks.

"Yes, fine, we're having a baby," Sam says with a smile as she puts out her hands for hugs, but only silence greets her.

"So this moving in, getting married, that is what this was about? She's pregnant?" Mark asks.

"No," Jack says, "The moving in and getting engaged came first. Well, actually must have been pregnant when we got engaged, but we didn't know it then. In fact we only found out this morning."

Jasmine moves closer, "Congratulations," she says, "Are you going to be moving up wedding?"

"No," Sam says.

"To stressful," Jack says with a smile.

"And we'll still be married well before the baby comes," Sam says.

"And you've had a kid without marriage before," Mark says, but he doesn't mean it in a cruel way.

"I was engaged to Laira," he says.

"You were?" Sam says looking at her shocked.

"Ah…yeah. I didn't think I was coming home. If I couldn't have the best…" he begins.

"It's ok Jack, I almost settled too," she says with a smile.

"Then I asked Laira to come to…America, and she asked me to stay, and neither of us was willing to leave our culture to be together. Not if we had another choice," he says, "You I would stay with no matter what my other option was," he says rubbing his arm.

"Good," she says leaning in toward him.

"Ah, Auntie Sam?" Will's tentative voice says as he knocks on the door, "Nate is crying…a lot."

All the adults stand up, but it's Jack and Sam who reach him first.

"Nate," Sam says picking him up.

"Sam," he says clinging to her, "Your dying just like Mommy," he wails.

"No, I'm not. I promise…" she says.

"She was tired, and threw up," he says.

She runs her hand over his hair, "Listen there are lots of reasons these things can happen. I'm going to have a baby, that is what is making me sick. I am not going to die."

"Baby?" Nate asks looking at her confused.

"Yeah, babies start out inside of their mommy's belly," she say pointing, "and after a long time they get big enough that they come out and live with us."

"And there is a baby in here now?" Nate asks.

Sam nods.

"And the baby doesn't have a Daddy like I don't have a Mommy?" Nate asks.

"No sweetie, your Daddy is this baby's Daddy, and you have a Mommy again, remember," she says holding the boy close.

"Good," he says, calming down for a little bit, "Why does the baby make you sick?"

Sam bites back a scientific explanation, "It's hard work to grow a whole new human so it makes you sick."

"How long until the baby comes out?" he says angrily.

"A long time, eight months. But I'll feel better before then. I'll still be sick for awhile. But I promise I'm not in any danger," Sam says.

"And Sam isn't going to be able to go to any missions anytime soon," Jack says.

"Safe," Nate says putting his arm around her.

"Yeah, Sarah was sick when she had Charlie too," Jack says.

"Did I make Mommy sick?" Nate asks concerned.

Jack looks like his heart was breaking, "I don't know, buddy. But if you did it wasn't your fault. And you certainly weren't the reason she died," he says bending down.

Nate nods his head.

"Nate can you do me a favor and sit with Sam while the rest of us go eat? She's not going to feel up to eating right now. Then you can go eat, and I can see if Sam can eat some crackers.

"I'll feed her crackers," Nate says jumping up and running to the kitchen. Jasmine followed him.

"He's making me sound like dog, 'feeding Sam'" she protests.

"Letting him help you might calm him down," Jack says, "but if you can't eat tell him," he says.

"I got you crackers, Sam," Nate says crawling onto his lap. "But Meteor stood on the table and eated supper," he proclaims.

"Your canine is untrained," Sam quotes Teal'c grinning at Jack.

P.S. Everything in these chapters is something I've actually known a dog to do, except open a fridge. It was an oven. He stopped, after the second time he burnt himself.


	7. Additions

Thanks again for Bruised Reed, my excellent beta!

"Jack, when does morning sickness end?" Sam says whining as Jack got up.

"Sorry," he says kissing her, "I didn't mean to wake you. It should be ending soon now that you're over three months along."

"How long until I have to wake up?" she asks rolling over.

"One hour, I'll make sure Nate has a breakfast you can't smell," he says.

"I can smell pretty much everything," she says eyes closed.

"I wish I knew why you're so sick," he says looking at her with guilt in his eyes again.

"Actually Lam figured that out yesterday," Sam says with a smile.

Jack turns to her looking panicked. He makes sure to shut the door, because Nate certainly doesn't need to know if something is seriously wrong with Sam.

"Twins," she says.

"Twins," he repeats a little puzzled.

She nods. He puts his hand on her stomach, "Twins? As in two babies?"

"Well, I certainly don't have a baseball team in my stomach," Sam says.

"But they are fine?" he asks "And you're fine?"

She nods. "You ok?" she asks sitting up and moving by him.

"Thrilled," Jack says.

* * *

"Dad," Sam says hugging him as he comes through the gate.

"You working today? It's the day before the wedding," Jacob says.

"I just came to meet you," she says.

"You're looking great, Sam," he says admiring her full belly.

"What you mean is I am looking like a whale," she complains.

He laughs, "No, I really mean you are looking great, but you are…big."

"Yeah, turns out there is a reason for that," she says.

"Are you further along than you guys thought?" he asks.

"No…twins," she says.

"Really?" he says, "How do you feel about this?"

"I love it. I mean I wanted kids…plural. Two, plus Nate. But I hate being away from the Stargate. I thought about retiring, but I'm not actually sure I want that. Not after being away from it this long. So it's like a two for one deal. Two kids for one pregnancy. Besides, honestly, with how sick I've been I'm not sure I'd want to do this again. Of course, I'm mostly sick, **because** I'm having twins so that argument doesn't quite hold water, but…" she trails off.

"You still sick?" he asks concerned.

"I'm better," she says with the faint tired lying smile she gives the boys she lives with, "I still can't stand the smell of cooking food. I haven't eaten anything cooked in months. I'm surviving on milk, cereal, sandwiches, and raw fruits and vegetables."

"Sorry kid," he says giving her a hug. "So I know you probably already have this decided, and I should have offered long ago, but do you have someone to take Nate while you guys go on your honeymoon?"

"We're taking Nate with us. He's been great lately. Hasn't had a melt-down in months, although he is worried and mother-henny about my being sick. He's been going to preschool without Jack for months now two hours a day three days a week. He's even going to stay with Teal'c for our wedding night, but any longer and we might be taking a huge jump backward. But we don't mind. I mean, to be honest, I wouldn't want to spend that much time away from Nate anyway. Jack always says I have about as much of an Attachment Disorder as the kid does. So we're all going up to Jack's cabin for a week. Funny, he invited me up there a lot of times before he retired. And now, for six months I could actually say yes, I haven't even seen the place."

"He invited you up to the cabin when he was your commanding officer," Jacob says sounding much like the father who scared her boyfriends away when she was still in high school.

"As friends," Sam says quickly, but her father's face doesn't soften. "He took Teal'c."

Jacob raises his eyebrow.

"As a friend," Sam adds.

"It wouldn't have turned out well if you'd gone with him to the cabin," Jacob says harshly, "He would have destroyed your career."

"Which is why I never went. Why he never really expected me to go," she says.

"When I think about…how you guys loved one another, all that time, and…what a disaster it could have been," Jacob mutters fiercely.

"That's the point, Dad. You know we're going to be alright. Because all those years…all those years we were so careful with each other. Now that we have each other, we're not going to start being careless. Not when Nate, and his little brother and sister are depending on us as well."

"A boy and a girl?" Jacob says with a smile.

"Yes," Sam says smiling.

"If I remember correctly that was exactly what you wanted when you were a teenager," he teases.

"Of course that was when I thought MacGyver was going to be the father."

Her father laughs, "All right, so did you need me to help with things for the wedding?" he asks.

"Just walk me down the aisle and look proud," she says with a smile.

"Easiest thing I'll ever have to do," he says giving her a kiss.

* * *

"You should take a break," Jack says leaning forward to whisper in Sam's ear.

"It's my wedding day, I'm not going to stop dancing," she says.

"You are five months pregnant. Come and sit one dance out with your **husband**," he says.

"Husband," she says with a grin.

"Yeah, and I haven't seen my** wife** since the first dance," he protests.

"Sammy!" Nate says grabbing onto her legs, and spinning her around.

"Uh no you don't," Jack says picking up his son, "Sam is going to sit down for a bit. Then you and I are going to have a dance."

"And you should start calling me…" Sam starts.

"Mom," he says throwing his arms around her.

"If I wasn't so tired I would have to say I was the happiest person that ever lived," Sam says with a contented sigh. "Might have to say it anyway," pulling Nate unto her lap as she sat down.

* * *

"Think Nate is ok?" she asks when they finally collapse into their hotel room, "It's probably too late to call?"

"Teal'c informed me that he would not disturb our night for anything in the world, after apologizing for interrupting our first date," Jack says with a laugh.

Sam's face goes pale as she reaches for the phone.

He grabs her hand, "I told Teal'c to call us if Nate needs us. Or even if he just wants us. It's Nate's first night sleeping without one of us in the house since he came to this planet. I'm not going to cut off our life line to him."

"He's fine?" she asks.

"He knows our cell numbers Sammy, he's fine," Jack says.

"I get to see your cabin tomorrow," she says.

"Today," he corrects, "It's today already."

* * *

"So what are we going to eat? I think we're out of groceries," Sam says.

"I think we still have eggs I can make my world famous omelets," Jack says.

"Jack, eggs and beer does not a recipe make," Sam replies dryly.

"Why is Meteor barking?" Sam asks.

"I don't know, Daniel's been saying he was fine," Jack says.

Suddenly a man turns the corner walking toward him with a gun extended. The gun is shaking. Meteor is snarling at him with his back hairs bristled up.

"Sam, get Nate out of here," he commands.

"Jack," Sam says trying to grab onto his arm.

"Carter!" he says. Then to the man he says, "You're going to let my wife and kid leave, and then we're going to have a discussion man to man," Jack says in a calming voice.

Sam takes Nate by the arm and starts to back out of the room with him. But Nate is terrified and frozen in place. Sam picks him up and carries him out of the house.

"You're Jack O'Neill," the man says making it sound like an accusation. He is shaking even harder now.

"Yes," Jack says feeling more relieved now that his family is out of the house, "Here is a better question, who are you?"

"It doesn't matter. All you need to know is, you ruined my life," the man says.

"Listen, you don't want to hurt me," Jack says, "My family doesn't deserve to go through that. That little boy you just saw. He lost his Mom."

"I know," the man says.

"Ok, so you would never want to hurt him right?" Jack says putting out his hand to take the gun.

The man places the gun into Jack's hands.

"You want to tell me how I ruined your life now?" Jack asks.

"Like you care," the man says.

"Just want to find out if I have to call the police or…" Jack stops.

"The top secret Stargate program you work for," the man finishes.

"Used to work for," Jack corrects, "And I guess you just answered my question," Jack gets out his cell phone and calls the SGC. Then he calls Sam.

"Hey Sam, it's Jack. I just wanted you guys to know that I'm fine in here. The cavalry should be showing up any time now, so if you could point them in our direction that would be great," he says.

"Cough twice if you are lying," she whispers.

"Seriously I'm fine, you guys ok?" he asks.

"Yes, we're exiled, but fine," Sam mutters.

* * *

"Jack, let me get this straight," Sam says a few hours later when they come out the briefing, "You've been seeing visions of a barber's life for the past seven years and you never thought it worth mentioning."

Jack shrugs nonchalantly.

"Seriously?" she says, "What did you think was happening?"

"I don't know, day dreams about bowling and what not?" he asks.

"This really makes me wonder what else you haven't shared," she says.

"You want me to share every wondering weird place this brain goes?" Jack says incredulously.

"Eight years of cutting hair?" she exclaims.

He shrugs again.

She cocks her head at him, "Jack, can you read minds?"

He laughs. Then his face grows serious, "But Sam I wanted you to know that me sending you off…that wasn't about you. You know I respect you as a soldier, right? I sent you out because someone needed to keep the kid safe, and it might as well be the one with two kids inside of her," he says looking at her.

"It's ok, I'm used to taking your orders," she jokes.

"No, Sam, I don't give you orders anymore. I need you to understand I see you as my equal. Well, let's be honest, you're my superior," he says.

"Not true Jack," she says, "But thanks for explaining."

"You hated it when I told you to leave," he sates.

"I don't like seeing you in danger," she admits.

"Ditto," he says, "but we dealt with it for seven years."

"Ok, I hate seeing you in danger without me," she says.

"Ditto," he says so quiet she can barely hear him, "Let's go collect the kid and go home," he says with a smile.

* * *

Jack flinches toward the door as the klaxons come on.

Sam grins, "Old habits die hard."

"Yeah, usually that means run to the gate room. But I don't work here anymore. I'm just here, because my freak of a wife can't deliver our babies in a regular hospital," he says teasingly.

"You are just as much of an alien-stuff-all-over-your-body-freak as I am," she says.

"True," he says kissing her forehead, "How are you doing?"

"I'm in labor," she says coyly, "so not great.'

"Right," he says.

"Evacuation of the base, this is not a drill, please evacuate the base," Walter's voice says over the loud speaker.

"What?" Sam asks.

"It sounds like they are evacuating the base," Jack says.

"Can't they wait!" she grumbles.

"I'm thinking no," Jack says.

"Excuse me," Jack says hailing the closest nurse, "What is the procedure for evacuating patients?"

"The most critical first," the nurse says as he works on the unconscious members of SG-5.

"Can you still walk?" Jack asks Sam.

She gives him a glare which clearly means yes.

"I'm going to help Sam get up there so we don't have to wait," Jack says. The nurse nods. "Ah, do you know why the base is being evacuated?"

"Replicators," she mutters.

"Crap," he says.

"This was a really bad plan," Sam says as another contraction hits.

"God, I'm sorry Sam, can you tell me how to override the elevator?" Jack says.

"We never should have taken the elevator," Sam mutters.

"Twenty-one floors and you were labor," he says.

"Sam!" they hear Jacob's voice.

"Dad!" Sam screams back, "We're in an elevator."

"Why did you take an elevator?" he says.

"She was in labor!" Jack explains.

"I got the message you sent, kind of why I came, Jack," Jacob says, and they can hear him working on the elevator.

"Dad, the replicators…are you sure you should be here?" Sam asks.

"No place I'd rather be, but my decision is finalized by the lack of gate travel right now."

"How are you doing, Sam?" Jack asks.

"So help me Jack if you don't stop asking that question I will hurt you," she puffs.

Jacob pries the door open.

"Thanks Dad," Sam says with a smile as Jack helps her out of the elevator.

"Ok, we've got a lot of stairs," Jack says.

Jacob hands Jack a gun.

It's the fourteenth flight of stairs that does her in. "I'm sorry, I need to rest. You guys have to go on."

"Oh, not a chance in hell, Sam, I'm sure the evacuation is just precautionary. Rest up," he says.

They hear an unmistakable sound in the corridor. "Not a precaution," Sam says, and the men move in front of her. They start shooting, and the volley sends them down another corridor.

"Ok, Sam, we've got to get moving, because I'm sure they set the self-destruct. Do I need to carry you?"

She laughs.

"Dead serious, Sam," she says.

"I'm fine," she says pulling herself off the ground.

"Jack, I'm sorry," she says a mere four floors from the surface.

"It's ok, we're getting there," he says.

"No," she says, "a baby is seriously coming out right now!"

"Ok, I'm here," he says. But she hears the sound of tiny replicator footsteps.

"No, you've got to deal with that, Jack," she says, "Because so help me I'm not going through this pain to watch those robots get my babies."

"You can't have these babies by yourself," Jack says.

"Shoot Jack," she says, "I can do this."

An endless assault of replicators advance at the foot of the stairway only to be shot down by Jack and Jacob.

* * *

"Hey, Dad, something wrong?" Sam says.

"You're asking me?" he asks.

"You look like you have a headache. Is Selmak ok?" she asks.

"Fine," he says.

"Dad?" she asks.

"Fine kid," he says.

"Your full of crap dad, I don't have the energy to continue this argument," Sam says.

"You ok?" Jack asks eyeing Jacob.

"Selmak is dying," Jacob says.

"I'm so sorry," Sam says.

"I'm sorry too, will it hurt?" Jack asks hiding his hatred of snakes well.

"Selmak wants to go now, but I'm asking him to hold on for a bit," Jacob says.

"What happens to you if he holds on?" Jack says.

Jacob won't look at him.

"Go sit by your daughter, Jacob, because so help me we're all making it out of this alive," Jack says.

"It should just take a couple of minutes," Jacob says.

A cry rings out.

"Sam?" Jack asks looking over his shoulder.

"Your daughter, Jack, hand me a gun," she says.

"What?" he says.

"We've probably got some time before the next one, dad needs to rest, hand me a gun," she commands.

Jacob hands her a gun and picks up his new grandbaby. He closes his eyes. Sam scoots forward so she's next to Jack, and starts shooting at the replicators.

"Sammy, I can take over again," Jacob says after awhile.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she asks concerned.

"Fine, I can't say the same for Selmak, but I'm fine," he says taking the gun, and laying the baby down by her mother.

"Just as well, baby boy is coming soon," she says.

Jack glances back with concern for a second and the replicators freeze.

"What's going on?" Jack asks Jacob.

"I have no idea," Jacob says.

"Well, I'm going to deliver my son, I'll be back to shooting when you need me," Jack says.

"Jack, stand guard I," Sam stops for a contraction, "Just had a baby without help, I can do it again."

"But you shouldn't have to, come on, Sam, push," he says.

No sooner is Sam holding her two babies than the replicators come alive again. Jack stands again next to Jacob and both start shooting. After some time the replicators fall to harmless pieces.

"Sam, I'm worried the self destruct might still be on," Jack says, "Jacob is going to take you to the surface, and I'm going to try to turn it off."

"No, Jack," she says.

"Sam, I don't know if we have time to get out of the danger zone, before it goes. We wouldn't if I set it," he says.

"Jack, you'll need two administrator codes, you have zero, give me a pen," she says.

"You only have one code," he says.

"I'll give you Hammond's too," she says.

"How do you know Hammond's code?" he asks.

"I learned it by accident, give me your arm," she says since her dad had provided her with a pen. She scribbles it down and kisses him, "I love you Jack.

"Love you too, see you soon. Take care of her, Jacob," he says.

"Take care of yourself, Jack," Jacob replies.

* * *

"We've got car seats, it's too bad they're not here," Sam says as her father settles her and her babies into the backseat.

"Which way should I go, Sam?" Jacob asks.

"Towards our house. A neighbor is watching Nate," she says.

She gets out her cell phone, "Nate baby," she says. "I'm fine. Yeah, the babies were born. I'm coming home. No, there was a little problem at the base. Daddy is going to be coming home later. No, he's fine," she says. Jacob looks in the rear view mirror and sees that Sam is near tears.

"It's going to be fine Sam," he says giving her a reassuring smile.

"You ok, Nate?" Sam asks. "Grandpa Jacob is here," she says. "The babies are fine," she says, "I'll see you soon, Nate."

"He's going to be fine, Sam," Jacob repeats.

"I hope so," Sam says.

Her phone rings, "Jack!" she explains.

"I'm fine, Carter," he says.

"Self-destruct?" she asks.

"I got it off. I'm sticking around, because Daniel's missing. It looks like the Tok'ra and SG-2 finished off all the replicators in the galaxy. Thanks to an idea you cooked up while you were on light duty, because of the babies," he says.

"Daniel's missing?" she asks concerned.

"It looks like he might have got beamed up into a replicator ship. Sam, I want you to come in and get those babies and yourself checked out by Lam. Just not yet. I'll give you a call when the evacuation is officially over, and they are ready for you, ok?" he says.

"We're fine, going to go see Nate," she says, "Jack, I am so glad you're ok."

"I'll see you soon, Sam," he says.

* * *

"Have you found Daniel yet?" she asks as he comes in.

"We will," he says.

"You like being back in the saddle?" she asks.

"Temporary, Sam. I like retirement," he says.

"You going to write another book?" she asks.

"Don't talk about that on base," he scolds. "Lam been in to see the little ones yet?"

"Not yet, nurses have looked us over, we look fine," she responds.

"Hand me one of the little ones," he says.

"Ethan or Anna," she says.

"Both?" he asks. She smiles and hands them over. "You are an all star. Fighting replicators while delivering twins."

"A performance I'm not about to repeat I assure you. All the replicators gone?" she asks.

"Yeah, you saved the world by proxy. Your theories on that ancient weapon were right on. They had to get some help from Ba'al and the Tok'ra, but it worked," he says.

"Those are strange bedfellows," she says, yawning.

"Why don't you nap?" he says, "You certainly deserve it."

"Can you call Mark?" he asks.

"Sure," he says.


	8. Epilogue

Thanks again for Bruised Reed, my excellent beta!

Epilogue: Five Years later

"Whose stupid idea was it to let each twin have their own party with their whole class at the same time?" Jack asks.

"Yours, and you are going to pay for it," Sam says, "Now someone promised Ethan a juggler."

"Taken care of," Jack says.

"You're right here," she points out.

"I'm not the juggler," he says.

"You promised your son a juggler," she says.

"We have two jugglers out there," he says.

Sam leans out the window, "I think I'm more amazed about the jugging Jaffa than the dog."

"Meteor has finally stopped impressing you?" he asks.

"You were the one impressing me with your dog training skills," she says.

"Mommy! Ethan's friends are on my side of the yard again," Anna protests.

"And they decapitated your poor dolls! So much for English tea party," Sam says.

"No…actually we did that," Anna says.

Jack starts laughing.

"Because?" Sam says.

"Checking for aliens?" Anna replied running out of the house.

"Classified!" Sam explains chasing her daughter down.

Jack laughs.

"Proud of yourself, Jack?" Daniel says taking Sam's spot on food preparation.

"I am. Why you are asking?" he says.

"Your daughter just beat up a bunch of dolls. Her friends are shocked. However, her brother's friends are cheering them on," Daniel says.

"Yeah, that could be a problem," Jack says, "When she gets older I'm going to have Nate watch her very carefully. She's got her mother's looks **and **warrior skills. That is a dangerous combination."

Jack looks out the window in shock. "There are three people having tea right now. Well, one person-Ethan, one Jaffa, and one dog."

Daniel laughs, "What about his friends?"

"Mostly gawking at my daughter. The good news is the swords we got for Ethan's party are getting use."

"Anna?" Daniel asks.

"Yeah, Nate is helping her too, I think there slaying vampires," he says.

"Long as they aren't zombies reanimated by the telchek device," Daniel mutters.

"Yeah, remind me to thank Cam for that particular bedtime story. The nightmares were delightful," Jack mutters. "No worries, I'm going to save this party."

"How exactly?" Daniel asks skeptically.

"Cake," Jack says with a wide grin.

"How is cake going to help?" Daniel asks.

"Cake fixes everything."

-Ok, I stopped making the miracle dog realistic. Now he's just awesome. But we know Teal'c can juggle.


End file.
